


Universes Meet

by saintvaast



Series: Universes Meet [1]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF, mcyt
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Chatlogs, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, im bad at tagging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28097535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintvaast/pseuds/saintvaast
Summary: "Not really, Dream's being a bitch at the moment," the man growled as he typed furiously into a small phone-like thing. A ping came from it, and as the man seemed to read a message on it, he looked like he wanted to snap the thing in half."I know someone named Dream who's also a bitch. Neon green hair and a stupid obsession with masks.""Funny, sounds a lot like my Dream."The two stopped to stare at each other."No.""Yup.""Not the parallel universes cliche-""The parallel universes cliche."
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Series: Universes Meet [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081667
Comments: 245
Kudos: 1024





	1. [StepDream] its like yelling into the void but it yells back at you lmao

**Author's Note:**

> i came up with this idea and wrote it all in one day haha might post a second chapter might not lmao

Technoblade honestly just wanted to live his life. He’d been cursed quite a few times, first with his awful name, secondly with ADHD, and he didn’t really feel like going into the rest. All he knew was that he wanted nothing more than to live his life peacefully. Sure, he had a bit of an odd philosophy that caused a few problems with staying low-profile, but really, he was just an average English major. Nothing special about him.

His brothers and honestly all of his friends and family and friends were the same. 

Unfortunately, they weren’t going to get what they wanted anytime soon. 

-

Technoblade woke up in his bed in his dorm room. It would’ve been a regular situation. Except that there was a man standing in his dorm room. A man about his own height, with long pink hair, pointed pig’s ears, tusks, and a crown atop his head. Surprisingly, the man looked shockingly similar to Techno. The same facial features, the same build, the same thick straight hair. Someone would definitely have called them twins. Technoblade looked the man up and down before deciding that it was a sleep paralysis demon and went back to bed. The man let out an indignant grunt, and Techno noted that the voice was similar as well. 

“I’m not some sort of hallucination. If you think you’re hallucinating, you need to get more sleep.”

And the voice was identical. 

“Where the fuck is this?”

Techno groaned and came to the conclusion that he’d have to deal with this.

“You’re in a college dorm room.”

“What’s a college?”

This was getting worse and worse as it went on. 

“Why are you here, is a better question.”

“I don’t know. I was fighting Dream then he put some code into his admin shit and now I’m here. I assume he tried to kick me but failed.”

“What the fuck does that even mean?”

“It means I don’t know why I’m here but it’s probably a malfunction. I’ll be out of your hair soon, once I get a word in with Dream and he decides to let me back. Don’t know when that’ll be though.”

“I hope it’s soon because you need to leave. If you don’t, someone’s going to come around and see me talking to air.”

The other man groaned. 

“You know what, that’s fair. I’m not a hallucination, but if I were you I’d probably think I was a hallucination as well.”

“Great, we’re on the same page here.”

“Not really. Dream’s being a bitch at the moment,” the other man growled as he typed furiously into a small phone-like thing. A ping came from it, and as the man seemed to read a message, he looked like he wanted to snap the thing in half. 

“I know someone named Dream who’s also a bitch. Neon green hair and a stupid obsession with masks.”

“Funny, sounds a lot like my Dream.”

The two stopped to stare at each other. 

“No.”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Not the parallel universes cliche-”

“The parallel universes cliche.”

Techno groaned and rolled over in bed to yell into his pillow. He didn’t have time for this shit, he had English papers to write and work to procrastinate on. He pulled his phone from his bedside table to text the group chat. 

AHHHHHHHHH

[Blood God] Dream tell your alternate universe self to stop being such a bitch

[StepDream] sure where the bitch at

[Blood God] idfk shout at him through your mental link or something

[StepDream] he says shut up but also to tell uhh Techy Babe?? i think thats waht he said- uhh tell him that he’s banned

[Blood God] Tell alternat universe Dream that he can ban the pinky all he wants but he needs to do it correctly next time 

[StepDream] he says what

[Blood God] Pinky is in my room. Univers glitched or some shit

[StepDream] damn

[Gogy] SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STOP ROLEPLAYING AT 3 IN THE GODDAMN MORNIN

[Blood God] sent an image

[pinky.png]

[Gogy] what the fuck

[Samsung] YOOO @karlchan TECHNOS DOING WITCHCRAFT

[Karl-Chan] YOOO TECHNO HE’S FINE WHAT DID YOU DO TO SUMMON HIM

[Blood God] Hes literally my fucking twin karl we look the same and sound the same

[Blood God] Snap Map come get your man hes cheating

[Blood God] Also he showed up in my room without my consent i did not summon him

[Samsung] Karl how could you do this 

[Karl-Chan] i didn’t know babe forgive me

[Samsung] ok lol wanna make out

[Karl-Chan] ywah

  
  
  


Techno groaned and looked up from his phone full of idiots back at the pinky. He decided to call the man Pinky.

“Uhh, your Dream says you’re banned or some shit. I don’t know, Dream said his alternate universe self said that. Didn’t know Dream was a psychic but whatever. The man is unpredictable.”

Pinky looked up from his communicator with an unsure look on his face.

“Dream says to tell your Dream to shut up. He’s apparently too loud.”

Techno looked back down at his phone.

[Blood God] Dream Pinky says that alternate universe Dream says shut up

[StepDream] ik lol i just like pissing him off 

[StepDream] its like yelling ino the void but it yells back at you lmao 

[StepDream] ooh he gettin profane

[Gogy] Dream tell him he’s a bitch 

[StepDream] he says that alternate universe george says hello but also fuck both of uou

[Gogy] tell him to say hi to alternat george 

[StepDream] he says alternat george say hi nd also that im a bitch

[StepDream] wiat

[Gogy] i like alternat george

[Samsung] WAIT CAN ISAY HI TO ALTERNAT SAPNAP

[StepDream] uhh alt me says alt snnapmap says uhh ‘hey king’

[Samsung] ikr

[Schalt] Dream when did you become a psychic

[StepDream] idk lol

[Schalt] You can profit off of that

[StepDream] uhh alt me says that alt tommy says 

[StepDream] uhh i dont know if i should say that

[StepDream] anyways all i can do is talk to alt me

[CHILD] Dream what did alt me say

[StepDream] Schlatt is a bitch and uhh many other not so nice words

[CHILD] huh i wonder why i hat Schlatt so much

[StepDream] alt tommy says hi and also hi to tubbo

[Bee] :D hello !!

[Furry] yall done rp ing or what

[Blood God] sent an image

[pinky 2.png]

[Blood God] still not rp

[Furry] wtf

[StepDream] at this point i have possessed alternate univers me’s body 

[Furry] what the

[StepDream] btw alternate universe fundy is an actual furry lmao fox man

[Furry] i hate it here

[Blood God] CAN WE GET BACK TO THE TASK AT HAND, PINKY IS STILL IN MY DORM ROOM AND MY ROOMATE COMES BACK FROM TEHIR STUPID MID-MORNING CHOIR PRACTICE IN LIKE 10 MINUTES

[StepDream] alt me says he wont unban pinky

[Blood God] tell him that if he doesn’t i will personally make sure that pinky gets back myself, by means of violence

[Blood God] wait does pinky have any friends are anything

[StepDream] i think so yeah

[Blood God] get dream to say to them that if pinky doesn’t get back soon he’s gonna get captured by a large number of scientists with not-so-great intentions

[StepDream] i’ll try but alt me is very mean

[Blood God] hold up i’ll see if pinky has any useful input

  
  
  
  


Techno looked up from his phone to see Pinky still fiddling with the communicator. 

“You got any good ideas? We’re trying our best over here to annoy the shit out of your Dream but it doesn’t seem to be working. Any luck on your side?”

“I can confirm that you are indeed annoying the shit out of Dream. He’s taken to complaining to me.”

“That is my friends’ expertise. Any ideas, though? And put some normal clothes on, or you’re gonna have the FBI on our doorstep when my roommate comes home. Look in the closet, you’re about the same size as me so everything should fit. Put on… that red turtleneck, those black pants, and those black dress shoes. That should make the crown into a decent fit. Take off the cape, by the way, and the shoulder armor is gonna have to go, too. I don’t know what we’re gonna do about your… pinky-ness but an outfit change and a cosplay excuse should suffice for now. From now on, you’re my twin who’s visiting, got it? All of your… appearance is just cosplay because you’re going to a con later. I do the talking, you do the sitting in the corner, working out your situation.”

Pinky looked at him for a long moment, face blank. Techno could tell that the man was trying to decide whether or not to trust him. After a long few seconds, the man sighed in defeat and slipped out of his cloak and armor, as well as his clothes as Techno looked away. He decided to look back at the group chat. 

  
  


[MamaMia] so whats all this about a fine man from an alternate universe

[Schalt] Shut up Quackity I am claiming him

[Blood God] From what i can see, he could easily snap both of you in half with no regrets

[MamaMia] that just makes it better

[Schalt] All the better 

[Blood God] Degenerates, all of you

[StepDream] you gotta admit, techno, he’s kinda hot

[Blood God] He literally looks just like me what the fuck are you guys on

[Karl-Chan] what i hear is that Techno is inches away from a massive glow-up

[Samsung] you have the potential, and i have a new meet-up planned

[Blood God] fuck

[StepDream] look at that, techno, that could be you

[Blood God] Oh my god why is pinky so unnecessarily muscly

[StepDream] simping for yourself i see

[Blood God] I am a toothpick

[Blood God] Is that what i would look like if i actually exersized? 

[Karl-Chan] send pics

  
  
  


Techno switched out of the messaging app in favor of the camera, switching it to selfie cam and pointing it over his shoulder at the changing Pinky, snapping one or two pictures. He assumed the man was okay with it because he didn’t seem to protest. 

They were pictures of the man’s back, marred by scars, and built enough that anyone who saw the man would know he was unnaturally strong. He wasn’t wide, though, in fact, he was very close to the skinny side. One would say that he was toned, athletic, but not really buff. 

[Blood God] sent images

[pinky back.png]

[pinky scar.png] 

[pinky r-e-a-c-h.png]

Techno was able to honestly admire it with what he guessed was called an artist’s gaze. Not sexual or attractive, but cool to look at. Yeah, that was the artist’s gaze. He thought. He glanced back down at his phone.

  
  


[Karl-Chan] holy fcuk

[StepDream] i know what im drawing tonight

[Schalt] huh

[MamaMia] WOO MAMA

[Samsung] holy fuck

[Gogy] wow

[Blood God] I hate you all

[CHILD] why does he have so many goddamn scars

[Bee] tommy that’s impolite

[StepDream] alt me wants to say he hates all of you lol 

[Blood God] That is the one thing i agree with him on

[StepDream] he syas he’s gonna pull tchy babe back now because of this

[Blood God] FUCKING FINALLY

[StepDream] he syas he was joking

[Blood God] God fucking damnit 

[Blood God] My roommate is knocking at the fuckking door Pinky is barely done changinbng good lord what do i do

[Samsung] let him in he will be temporarily distracted until the guy’s done changing 

[Blood God] *THEY aren’t even attracted to men

[Samsung] *they sorry

[Blood God] S gucci just remember it

[Samsung] KK

[Samsung] ANYWAYS i feel like even the straightest of men and most homosexual nof wmen would be entranced by that guy

[Blood God] Yallre makin me feel really fuckkin ugly right about now

[Karl-Chan] Compared to Pinky we are all ugly

[Blood God] HE AND I HAVE THE EXACT SAME FACE WAHT TEH FUCK

[StepDream] its ok techno i think you’re pretty

[Blood God] I would usually say it doesn’t count coming from you but at this point i need the fucking compliment

[StepDream] :3

[Blood God] George 

[Gogy] whats up

[Blood God] How is Dream actually faring is this whole psychic thing waring hm out

[StepDream] im right here wtf

[Gogy] hes gonna be fine lol it doesn’t seem to be too tiring for him

[StepDream] aww techno you care?

[Blood God] Id sell you to Schlatt for a corn chip

[Schalt] i like that offer

[StepDream] WTF

[Blood God] Hold up Pinky needs something

  
  


“What’s up, Pinky?” Techno looked up from his phone to where the other man was standing expectantly. 

“First of all, my name isn’t Pinky, it’s Technoblade.”

“Well my name is Technoblade, so I’m gonna be Techno and you’re gonna be Pinky. I nicknamed you first, fair and square. Therefore, I get actual name rights. Had you come up with a nickname before me, I would have to be that and you would get to be Techno, but I’m quick and I have friends, surprisingly enough, so I am Technoblade. No complaints.”

Pinky looked like he wanted to protest. He ended up going with a threat.

“You know I could kill you right here if I wanted to, right?”

“I’m fully aware. However, I don’t really care. Also, my friends are the ones most easily contacted, so they know you as Pinky, and you’re in this world now, so…” 

Pinky glared, before giving up. He sighed and got up. Techno mentally pat himself on the back for the outfit choice. It suited the man perfectly, especially with the crown. 

“Alright, now I’m pretty sure that my roommate is having a breakdown outside the door, so I’m going to go help them with that. You stay here.”

-

Techno ended up not having to explain anything because his roommate didn’t really care. He counted it as an easy win. Going back to his group chat while Pinky fidgeted with the communicator, he sat back on his bed. 

[StepDream] we gon meet up or what

[Samsung] we’re all free it would be stupid not to at this point

[Karl-Chan] @everyone WE MEET AT THE FOUNTAIN PLAZA AT 10 !!! there we meet pinky!

[GoodGirlHalo] why are you guys up so early

[Blood God] Half of us never slept and then we woke up everybody else

[GoodGirlHalo] You should sleep >:(

[Blood God] Pinky here makes it awful fuckin hard to relax

[GoodGirlHalo] LANGUAGE also who’s pinky :0

[Blood God] sent an image

[pinky style.png] 

[GoodGirlHalo] oh wow he looks an awful lot like you, Techno! 

[Blood God] We’re literally the same, save for the hair and his build, and yet everyone here is simping over pinky

[SkepDaddy] oof that must be hard on the ego

[Blood God] You have no idea

[GoodGirlHalo] i think you look nice Techno! :D

[Blood God] Thank you bad

[GoodGirlHalo] of course ^-^

[SkepDaddy] Pinky do be lookin fine tho

[Blood God] I fucking hate you

[GoodGirlHalo] LANGUAGE! But also skeppy that wasn’t very nice. Plus why are you on pinky when you have me :(

[SkepDaddy] WAIT BAD I DIDNT MEAN IT

[Cat] why don’t we all focus on the fact that there’s a transdimensional being in Techno’s house 

[creeper] yeah thats probably concerning

[Ranboob] YES! THAT IS FAIRLY CONCERNING

[CHILD] calm down ranboob it’s not that bad also TUBBO

[Bee] yes?

[CHILD] can you get me caseys donuts on your way up to the plaza this morning I want caseys donuts

[Bee] sure tommy

[Ranboob] ooh me too :0

[GoodGirlHalo] just get three dozens, I’ll pay you back later, tubbo

[Bee] ok thanks bad :D

[GoodGirlHalo] no problem tubbo ! :)

[Blood God] I wonder if you guys are just as tooth-rottingly sweet in the alt uni

[Blood God] I asked pinky and apparently things aren’t as bright over there

[Blood God] Pinky was really angsty when I asked

[Blood God] Said something about child soldiers and uhh something about wilbur??

[STFU] i have been summoned

[Blood God] Apparently in the alternate univers you went insane and blew up your nation 

[Blood God] Man pinky needs a fuckin therapist he’s seen some shit

[STFU] damn

[Ph1l] as i licensed therapist i can confirm he probably needs one

[Blood God] Oh fuck he’s crying

[Blood God] What the fuck do I do

[Ph1l] comfort him what else

[Blood God] I DONT KNOW HOW TO FUCKING DO THAT

[Ph1l] jesus you’re hopeless just stay away for now, i’ll probably try to help out when we meet up today. For now get him something to eat, something to drink, it seems like he’s stressed and he got here from a stressful situation

[Blood God] You’re so wise phil

[Ph1l] you’re senseless

[Blood God] I know

[Ph1l] Techno

[Blood God] Sorry 

[Blood God] I am smart

[Ph1l] there we go. remember, create new pathways

[Blood God] I know phil

[Ph1l] good

[Ph1l] anyways roll call where are my children

[Blood God] In dorm room with pinky

[CHILD] in class, tubbo’s with me

[STFU] at boohoo cracker

[StepDream] working at boohoo cracker

[Gogy] also just got here, we’re opening shop

[Samsung] ditto

[Karl-Chan] ditto as well

[creeper] in the elec lab, working on a new circut

[Cat] hanging out with Velvet :)

[Ranboob] in the elec lab with Sam

[Schalt] in the debate hall currently taking down the set for the last play the theatre kids used our stage for

[MamaMia] helping Schlatt

[GoodGirlHalo] feeding the fish in the koi pond in the park and doing maintenance 

[SkepDaddy] following bad around

[Ph1l] i dont remember having this many kids but oh well

[Blood God] at some point they’ve all adopted you as their father 

[Ph1l] understandable

[Ph1l] anyways good morning to you all, i hope you all have a great day and i’ll see you at 10 :)

[StepDream] thanks phil! 

[Gogy] thanks phil good morning

[Karl-Chan] thanks phil !! 

[Ranboob] thank you phil :)

[Samsung] good morning phil thank you

[GoodGirlHalo] thank you phil, i’ll see you then :D

[SkepDaddy] thanks 

[Blood God] thanks phil see ya

[STFU] i’ll see you phil :D

[CHILD] see you big P

[Bee] Thank you Phil! 

[Schalt] thanks big man ill see you

[MamaMia] ayyyy! gm phil thank you :)

[Cat] gm 

[creeper] gm :)

[Ph1l] wow

[Blood God] Phil most of us would kil for you

[Ph1l] concerning but flattering

[Blood God] Pinky’s done crying gtg 

  
  
  
  


Techno looked up from his phone to see the man wiping at his eyes. The man clearly hadn’t let out anything in a while. That was a good long cry.

“You gucci over there? Done? Let everything out?”

“I haven’t cried since I was 6.”

“That would explain a lot. You seem repressed to me. It’s in your aura. I would know because I am too, just not on the level you are. You’re on a whole different- it’s like cloud nine, but with repression. It’s impressive.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, man. Now, I’m taking you to meet my friends later, do you want to go to the cafe or the park? Either way, you’re going to get interrogated, but like, which setting would you like?”

“Cafe sounds nice.”

“Yeah, that would be my pick too. You look somewhat presentable so we’re gonna go early and I can show you around. I’m going to assume my friends might be familiar to you so don’t get too shocked or anything, also don’t hold them to what their counterparts may have done where you’re from. These are my friends, not yours. We’re different. Just getting that out of the way, so now we can leave.”

Techno usually didn’t talk this much. He didn’t know what brought it out of him, but he was feeling much more talkative than usual. 

-

Techno dragged the other man along by the hand towards the plaza. It was only 9, but he had nothing better to do and neither did Pinky. So there they were, sitting peacefully on the side of the fountain as Pinky took in the sights. 

“This place smells dirty.”

“You come from a pollution-free place? That might be your problem. The cleanest air here is in the park, but I assume that’s still gonna have a baseline of pollution.”

“Eh, I just have a keen nose. It’s probably not that bad.”

  
“I assure you it is.”

“I’m not gonna ask.”

Techno pulled his phone out and began to scroll through TikTok, easily passing time as his brain focused on the steady flow of videos through the For You page, mind losing track of time as he browsed through the cosplays, the art, the memes, the stories. He only looked up when he heard Bad call to him.

His eyes glanced up to the man, seeing pale skin, rosy cheeks, and unkempt curly black hair. Bad’s signature black hoodie was swinging with his movements. Skeppy stood next to Bad, hands shoved into the pockets of his cyan bomber jacket. The black turtleneck underneath the jacket twisted as Skeppy looked around. 

“Is no one else here yet?” 

“No, I got here an hour early because I had nothing better to do. Pinky here’s been pretty quiet.”

“I’ve just been watching over your shoulder at your communicator.”

“It’s called a phone, big guy.”

“Phone, then.”

“Technoblade, watching you interact with yourself is honestly shocking. You look and sound… exactly the same.”

“As I’ve been telling you.”

Technoblade leveled a tired stare at Skeppy, who shrugged and went back to staring at Bad. He was prone to do that at all times, Technoblade had realized after about 2 days of knowing the two in person. Techno watched silently as Skeppy stared longingly at Bad, who went about the fountain, checking to see that everything was in working order, as he usually did. 

“Are they, like, in love or something?” Pinky’s whisper trailed into his ear and Techno silently nodded. Pinky sat back up and stared at the two as they circled the fountain. “I’m pretty sure my versions are as well. They don’t really have time to think about it though, the Badlands are usually busy with something.”

“Your world seems really bleak.”

“It is.”

The silence fell on them again.

Techno checked the time, seeing that it was 10 on the dot by now. Time had really flown while he was distracted. As it usually did. He spotted a few friends in the distance coming their way. His gaze also shifted to the cafe, Boohoo Cracker, that his friends were working at. There was a pass of Dream’s lime green hair in the window, and Techno sighed as he got up. 

  
  
  


[Blood God] alright everyone, we’re meeting in the cafe now. I’m hungry. Pinky probably is too.

-

In the cafe, everyone had gathered and most were now surrounding Pinky with questions and comments. Someone was touching the man’s hair.

“Everyone! Away from the poor man, let him breathe,” Phil asserted, having to shoo a few of them away from the now very clearly uncomfortable Pinky.

“Now, I’m going to have the first talk with him, and you guys can ask him questions later. Get some breakfast, and I’ll have a talk with Pinky here.”

-

Techno watched Pinky walk off as Phil led him off to the park, the two having to run away to get any privacy.

“Oi Techno, what’s up with your twin there?”

“I don’t know. He showed up in my dorm room and now we’re here.”

“Is Phil gonna give Pink therapy?”

“Yeah.”

Techno answered the questions he could about the odd man, all the while trying to shift the topic of conversation to something different. He succeeded, but unfortunately, the new topic turned out to be Techno and why Techno didn’t look like Pinky. More accurately, why Techno wasn’t as  _ hot _ as Pinky.

Now, Techno wasn’t really an insecure person, by any standards. But you have to admit, being compared to someone who’s the same as you makes you really wonder if you’re missing something and why you’re not enough. Techno’s gaze was averted down as the taunts and seemingly harmless comparisons were thrown his way, a conflicted look resting on his face. He didn’t like it, he had to be honest. He wasn’t used to confidence, no, but nor was he used to the feeling that seeped into his gut. Why was Pinky supposedly more attractive when the only difference had been achieved by the guy by going through constant war and fighting? As that dawned on, him, he realized how fucked up it kind of was to compare the two of them. Completely different backgrounds, completely different circumstances. And to be honest, Techno didn’t really want to look like Pinky all that much. Sure, it would be cool, but it wouldn’t really be  _ him _ . 

Techno’s thoughts had drowned out the words of his friends, turning the incessant babbling into background noise as he found a seat by the window and stared out of it, into the street and plaza. Eventually, he heard the noise die out as they realized that he’d tuned them out, ignoring their comments. He felt a tap on his shoulder, bringing him back out of his thoughts.

“Hah?”

“Techno, I said, are you okay? You kinda forgot we existed there.”

  
“Sorry, I was just thinking.”

  
“‘Bout what?” 

“Nothin’ much.”

Techno looked back out the window, putting the words he’d wanted to say aside in favor of silence. Fuck ADHD and the anxiety that came with it. Ignoring the words that came from his friends, or at least trying to, his attention went to Phil and Pinky outside, who looked like they were coming back from their walk. Techno got up again, going to get the door for the two. 

-

  
  



	2. "You can still fix it."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o_o

Technoblade walked along the path with the man that looked eerily identical to his father. He was tense, but honestly, the man wouldn’t really allow it. His aura was jovial and caring, and Techno couldn’t help but relax as the man talked to him. 

“Now, son, I know you come from somewhere… a little different,” Phil laughed, the sound like bells on the air, somehow ever the more comforting to Techno. “Do you mind telling me a bit about it?”

Techno’s mood fell a bit at that, but he started, “Well, it’s sort of complicated, with servers and everything, but… I guess I grew up with a man named Philza, who’s just… the alternate universe version of you. He found me in a fridge in the forest and took me in, keeping me in his private server as he raised me, and he trained me to fight, which I turned out to be… pretty good at,” Techno trailed off, face telling a story of what an understatement that was. 

“Then two years later, Phil found my brother, Wilbur, in the fridge as well. Wilbur and I trained together and stuff, he was… I don’t really know how to explain my brothers… well, 5 years after that, my final brother, Tommy, showed up on our doorstep, so I suppose the person got tired of dumping kids in the fridge and just brought the kid straight to the end destination. Me and Wilbur took care of Wilbur when Phil was gone, which he wasn’t too often, but yeah. Uhhhh… Eventually, I went off on my own and became a Hypixel player, I was pretty good at Skywars and Bedwars, and then Skyblock came along, and then the potato war, which I won, by the way, suck it, Squid,” Techno whispered to himself, which made Phil cackle, and Techno smiled. It faded when Techno realized what part of the story came next. 

“Then, I got a call from Wilbur. He and Tommy had gotten in deep in the Dream SMP, and I went to help. By the time I had gotten there… it was too deep for me to help. Sure, I helped them with the war. But they used me, used my efforts, my hours, days,  _ weeks, months _ of grinding just for them to go against my wishes and make a whole nother problem, another government. I knew it would only make things worse, make the cycle start again. I was right. That day, Wilbur went completely off the rails. He… he blew up his own nation. Detonated the TNT, it… it destroyed so much… God… And when the dust settled, there he was, sick, twisted smile still on his face, and Phil was standing right there, then Wilbur started shouting, shouting at Phil to kill him, stab him, and Phil had no choice but to do it. He was… he was still smiling when he died, it was… that was my brother’s last life, no more respawns… and it was all because… it pushed me off the edge that day, and I did something I regret, I killed basically everyone, luckily not taking any official lives, but it was…” Techno trailed off. Phil was quiet as he spoke. 

“It sounds like a lot happened on the Dream SMP.”

“That’s an understatement if I’ve even heard one. After that day, L’Manburg was re-built, but because power corrupts, Tommy’s friend… well, friend is almost an understatement to what their bond was, but Tubbo was… basically reeled in, and he became yet another pawn. So now, Tommy is in exile, suicidal, and he hates me, he thinks I’m the reason he’s in exile… it hurts to see him like this, Phil, it really does. It- he’s- god…” Techno trailed off again, head in his hands. Techno hated how awful everything was when he looked back on it. He wanted to cry again. He felt a comforting arm around his shoulders. He leaned into the touch. 

“I don’t know why I’m so upset about it now. I’m- in Toothpick’s house, I- that was the first time I cried in years. I haven’t cried since I was 6 years old, when Wilbur stole my crown and I couldn’t find it for a whole hour. That…”

“I bet it’s because you’re essentially taking a step back to look at everything. Not of your own accord, but you are. Looking at things from a different perspective can be shocking sometimes.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Techno mumbled, trailing off as Phil started to realize he was prone to do. 

“I don’t know much about the specifics of the situation, but it also sounds like you blame yourself for something.”

“Mh,” was all he got from the taller man, and he sighed. It was complicated, and much more than he’d anticipated. Phil wasn’t a stranger to some of the worst traumas, but this was somehow worse than he’d ever seen before. 

“Well?”

Techno sighed. Phil had always been perceptive. No matter which version of himself. 

“I should have been there from the beginning. When they started L’Manburg, when… when the problem started. When Tommy became something he was never meant to be. I should have been there to protect him, to save him, his childhood- it was ripped from his hands. He’s a kid, Phil, he’s- he’s only 16, and he’s been to war twice, been through so much shit that he doesn’t bat an eye at losing half of his health. He’s sacrificed himself twice over for his country, only to be exiled twice again. He’s lost his childhood, because I wasn’t there to stop it. Wilbur’s not much better, he’s only 18, yet he started a whole country. He has a son, for God’s sake. I- Phil, I’m their brother, yet I let that happen. I let them- they- Tommy is suicidal, and he- Dream is gaslighting him so bad that Tommy is now dependant on the man who causes every single one of his problems, I- this never should have happened, but I was off- fucking- doing shit in Skywars or something- I- god-” Techno was wiping furiously at his eyes, feeling a hand rubbing comforting circles on his back. He sniffled, looking down at the sidewalk. God, he- 

“Did they ever reach out to you?”

“No. I didn’t hear from them at all during the Dream SMP.”

“Then it’s not your fault. You never could’ve known.”

“But-”

“But nothing. You never could have known unless they’d contacted you.”

Techno continued to look down at the sidewalk. His hands were balled into fists, and tears free-flowed down to the cold pavement. The breeze in the silence chilled Techno’s cheeks where tear tracks ran down his face. He hated it. 

“I still should have visited them. Checked up on them at least. I’m- they’re my brothers.”

“Tell me, Techno what were you doing in Skywars at that time?”

“Training. I was- training again. Like an idiot.”

“Tell me, Techno, would you happen to have ADHD?”

“I- how did you know?”

“A certain Techno I know does as well. Do you know one of the symptoms of ADHD is?”

“I do, but that’s- it’s not an excuse! I just- I should have- I- I could have prevented it- God, Phil, I just-” Techno blade choked on a sob, not trying to hold back at this point. Wet, hot tears fell down onto Techno’s hands, as they stopped walking. He saw Phil step in front of him. He felt hands on his shoulders, and then his face, feeling Phil nudge his head so he was looking Phil in the eyes. 

_ “It’s not your fault.” _

Techno let out a sob as Phil pulled him into a hug that Techno sunk into, sobbing into Phil’s shoulder. Phil whispered and rubbed his back, letting Techno cry into his shirt. 

“It’s not your fault, Techno. You never could have prevented this. If you need to know anything, it’s that. It’s not your fault. And Techno?” Phil’s voice was in Techno’s ear as he waited. 

_ “You can still fix it.”  _

-

Techno walked quietly back to the cafe with Phil, still sniffling but otherwise calmed down. Phil watched as Toothpick opened the door for them. He checkled to himself at the nickname that Techno had chosen. As they went inside, Techno took note of all of the familiar faces. He hadn’t before, being a bit too overwhelmed, but now he saw… a lot of his friends. 

“Here he comes! The man of the day, Pinky!” Dream shouted as he walked in, making Techno look up in surprise. 

“Hah?”

The green-haired man stood on top of the register counter in only socks, a mask tucked under his chin. Freckles dotted his skin in a way that was familiar. The man hopped down, walking over to greet Techno. 

“We’re really sorry about earlier, it was really an accident. Would you like anything to eat? We have… uhhh…” Dream trailed off as he read the menu, squinting. 

“Dream, you work here. Are you this stupid?” George’s voice came from behind the counter. 

“Ah! Umm, we have breakfast sandwiches, donuts-”

“I’ll have a donut, then.”

“Quick choice! And a good one. Sapnap!” Dream shouted over to the counter, prompting Sapnap to pop up from under, almost startling Techno. “Get this man a donut!”

“On it!”

“While that’s getting ready, I guess you can just…”

“You can talk to us!” Tubbo shouted from across the cafe. Techno took up that offer, striding over. He gave a hesitant look to Tommy, but sat down at the table with them.

“You probably already know, but I’m Tubbo, and this is Tommy!”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Great! Tommy, what do you want to talk about?”

“Women,” came Tommy’s immediate response, to which Techno, an asexual, let out an, “Ehhhh…” 

“Why not, big man?”

“I’m not really keen on women. Or men, for that matter. No one, really. I could tell you about… potatoes?”

Tommy cocked an eyebrow at that, but Tubbo nodded excitedly. 

“Alright then, where to start, where to start…? Well, first of all, I should tell you about the great Potato War between me and Squid Kid. It lasted for 8 months, all of which I spent farming potatoes and finding the ultimate ways to maximize my potato output. It all started when I needed Hot Potato books that one time…” Techno started, as Tommy’s face grew intrigued, and Techno went off on a rant, prompting everyone else to listen in. 

Techno never got his donut.

-

A few hours later, conversation flowed naturally between all of the people in the cafe, except for Dream, George, Sapnap, and Karl, who were working and serving. 

“So, Pinky, what else do you do in your magical world?”

“Hypixel, or just my universe in general?”

“Your universe in general,” Schlatt said with a decisive tone. 

“Alright, umm… Well, I got here from the Dream SMP-”

“Do you need me?” Dream interrupted from the counter, hearing his name.

“Nope. We’re talking about alternate Dream.”

“Ah, the bitch.”

“The bitch. Anyways, on the Dream SMP- well, I suppose I should start from the beginning,” Techno said. 

-

The time passed without notice, conversations shifting from topic to topic, Technoblade often called on to tell a story or explain something. After a while, Dream, Sap, George, and Karl joined again, having worked their shift. 

At one point, they migrated to the park, Dream telling the group about his newfound psychic ability, mostly just about how he’d annoyed Dream all throughout the day. Techno got a good laugh out of that, standing on top of the playground that the group had taken over. Luckily, no kids had been there, so they had free reign. Techno navigated the top of the playground, striding across thin beams effortlessly, the show of balance impressive. He told the story that his father had told him about the man’s many years in a hardcore world all alone, before he’d taken Techno in. He spun the tale of the man’s many astronomical builds, the many near-deaths, the fights and the achievements that his father had told him of long ago. He took his turns speaking, answering questions, listening to the stories of the others in turn. 

The sky turned dark without anyone taking notice. The sun set, and the light dimmed. Techno pulled a torch from his inventory prompting many different reactions, most of which being ‘where did that come from’ and ‘oh my god put that away’. He confusedly put the torch back in his inventory, not really understanding their problem, but he supposed this was their world. They must have different rules. Then he realized that he still had his inventory. Why- he thought that it had disappeared when he changed worlds. He stopped walking to observe it, drawing questions from the people around him. He browsed through his inventory, seeing what he had. His armor and weapons sat in his inventory, as well as some food and a few building supplies and some of his valuables. He closed the inventory, conflicted as to what to do with his new information. He brushed off the comments from the group, continuing along on their walk. 

Eventually, Tubbo fell asleep the second he sat down on a bench, and the group decided it was about time they left for the night. People said their goodbyes. And then, Techno was walking back with Toothpick to the guy’s dorm. 

Until Toothpick took an unexpected shortcut. They cut through an alleyway. Techno thought nothing of it until there was a presence behind them, holding something to their backs. Technoblade whirled towards the presence, seeing some pathetic guy holding a machete to them with a sick look on his face. Too cocky, too sure of himself. Techno stared down at the man, who started to look pretty pissed that Techno wasn’t scared. When Techno didn’t budge, the guy made a jab straight at him. Techno dodged easily, moving the man’s arm down and almost throwing the guy down. The guy kept an even hold on his weapon, though, and streadied himself back out. Techno sighed.

“I could kill you right now, be a little more scared, kid,” the guy drawled.

“What, so you can get your sick little kicks? No, I don’t think I will, I have no reason to,” Techno responded, head tilted. The man looked really pissed. He raised the machete. Techno moved the sword from his inventory into his hand, raising the weapon back as it materialized in his hand. The man laughed, not seeming to understand the danger he was in. 

“What, a magic trick with a prop sword?”

Techno struck at a metal garbage can next to him in the alley, and the man watched with a newfound terror in his eyes as the sword passed effortlessly through the metal.

“This thing is enchanted with enough shit to kill you with barely a scrape. I suggest you back away and think about what you’re doing.”

“You’re- that’s fake! You can’t-”

_ “Back  _ **_off_ ** _.” _

The threat in Technoblade’s snarl was enough to make the man drop his machete with a shaking hand. Techno raised his sword again, and at the look in Techno’s eyes, the man ran without looking back. Sighing, Technoblade switched the sword back to his inventory.

“Almost as useless as a Skywars player.”

-

Philza held Dream by the man’s collar, the threat in his voice and demeanor enough to make Dream shake. 

_ “What did you do with my son?” _

“I- I banned him! He can’t come back, not- I don’t care if he didn’t get out correctly, I’m not bringing him back!”

“Then send me where you sent him. Same fucked command, directed at me. I’ll bring him back, if you’re too much of a coward to do so yourself because you know he’ll kill you. I’ll kill you as well, Dream, for everything you’ve done. But I’m a father, so my son comes first. Now, put the command in. Copy paste it from before.  **_NOW._ ** ”

Dream did as he was told as the painful grip Phil had on his shoulders started to draw blood. Phil dissapated slowly as the command took effect.

“I’ll be back, Dream. I’m going to come back and kill you. Prepare yourself.”

Everyone felt the aura of the man’s rage even after he was gone.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ope- anyways ummm *clutches protective phil headcanons*


	3. [Schalt] I DON'T HAVE FUCKING MOMMY ISSUES

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it is very hard to write two people both named Phil interacting. i apologize if it gets confusing

-

Dream stared down at the admin staff in his hand. Next, Wilbur. He’ll make all of his problems disappear. 

_You’re not doing anything with this. They’re going somewhere, sure, but karma is coming for you._

Dream groaned, hand going up to try and ease his pounding headache. 

_They’re going to find a way back eventually. The glitches are bad, you need to stop. Every time you do this, you’re corrupting your world more. You’re corrupting yourself, too, but at this point, you’re beyond saving. The power has gotten to your head. You’re_ **_evil_ ** _. Evil, evil, evil, evil, evil, evil, evil, look at the people you’ve killed, the things you’ve done. Look at the people you’ve pushed away from you, the friendships you’ve ruined, eventually, everyone is going to be your enemy. You’re going to be your own demise, and you can’t stop, you won’t stop. Because you can’t. You’re too far deep, you’re as insane as Wilbur, as far gone as old L’Manburg. You’re over, Dream. Done for. Everything you do just solidifies your road to demise. No one really likes you anymore, Dream. They’re all going to leave you eventually, no one will stay for an evil being like you._

Dream gripped his hair, wanting to pull it out. The voice had shown up maybe two days ago. At first, it had sounded like someone else, joking around, annoying him. It was seemingly harmless, if not annoying. 

Then, as time had gone on, it had gotten worse. It had read into him, read his thoughts and his mind, and it had started talking. Whispering. Talking about shit like that, spouting nonsense. And everything the voice said stuck in his head, making him doubt everything he did. It was so damn stupid, Dream hated it-

_You can’t even think rationally anymore, look at that. You’re over-emotional, too angry._

“Shut **_UP!_ **” he shouted, voice raspy and manic. 

_Talking to nobody now? Everyone outside is going to hear that, and you’ll be exposed for how crazy you are._

“No, shut up, shut up, this is _your_ fault, I know that you aren’t just a voice. You’re someone from an alternate universe. The glitch gave you this link. You’re using it to fuck with me…” Dream growled, leaning heavily against a pillar. 

_Now, who told you that? I’m not real. I’m you. Your conscience. I guess it’s complicated because you have no conscience. You’re a monster._

“Shut up, I know- I know you’re real, somewhere, just some fucker out there messing with me.”

_I’m you, Dream. I’m just the better version of you. I have empathy, I have kindness in my soul. Whereas you? I don’t think so._

**_“SHUT UP!”_ ** Dream’s voice boomed throughout the church that he’d been spending the night in. “You’re not real, you’re not- you- god-” Dream let out a low growl filled with frustration and mania. His fist was bloody from punching the porous stone of the church. The blood seeped down his arm as he panted. “ _Fuck_ …” 

_You’re pathetic, you’re throwing a fit because you don’t have power over this one thing. Look at you, blowing up like a kid throwing a tantrum. Look at yourself. You’re as dependent on this power you have as an addict is to the drug. The second you don’t have this power, you’re going to break down. It’ll be soon, too. You’re pushing everyone away with your choices, and as soon as you have no one, it’s just going to crumble under your feet like a tower of cards._

“No, no, no, no, no, it’s- you’re lying, you’re- you don’t know anything-” 

_I know what you fear and I know what you are. I know how you tick and how you got here. I know_ **_everything._ **

“Shut up, no you don’t, you’re just- just a stupid- voice in my head, saying meaningless things- I’m not going to fail! I won’t lose my power, I’ll- I’m going to- they aren’t going to leave me, I have them in my control-!”

_In your control. Giving yourself away there aren’t you?_

“No, shut- you-!” Dream stuttered over his words, “I don’t- that means nothing- I’m-”

**_YOU’RE ALREADY LOSING IT OVER LOSING CONTROL OF ONE THING, LOOK AT YOU! YOU’RE PATHETIC, AND YOU KNOW IT! YOU KNOW ALL OF THIS, YOU’RE FREAKING OUT BECAUSE YOU_ ** **_KNOW_ ** **_IT’S TRUE! YOU JUST DON’T WANT TO ADMIT IT. YOU’RE AFRAID, DREAM. YOU KNOW THAT I’M RIGHT, YOU’RE JUST TOO PATHETIC TO ADMIT IT!_ **

Dream punched another pillar, his knuckles screaming at the pain of the skin being forcefully ripped on the course, hard stone of the pillar. Dream was sweating and panting, hyperventilating, anger and mania coursing through his system. 

-

Techno opened his phone, watching Pinky in his peripheral. Pinky was getting worryingly close to the computer. His phone pinged.

  
  
  
  


[Ph1l] i wonder what it’ll be like meeting me from another universe

[Blood God] Its weird

[Step Dream] I WANNA MEET PHILZA

[Samsung] ME TOO IS THAT THE HARDCORE GUY WITH THE WINGS ??!!

[Karl-Chan] ME THREE

[Blood God] Ok im curious, does he actually have the wings?

[Blood God] Apparently he does, according to pinky

[ChillTiredBi] what in the f u c k did i miss

[Ph1] hello eret

[ChillTiredBi] hello phil

[Blood God] sent an image

[pinky3.png]

[Blood God] Meet Pinky, alternate universe me

[ChillTiredBi] huh

[Blood God] He has lots of Trauma

[ChillTiredBi] wow

[Blood God] His dad might be here to pick him up and bring him back where he belongs

[Blood God] Wrong univers, and all that

[ChillTiredBi] thats cool

[ChillTiredBi] wait did i miss out on a meet-up?

[MamaMia] yeah you did, bitch

[MamaMia] i was so betrayed

[MamaMia] i work so hard to plan this shit for you guys and this is what i get in return

[ChillTiredBi] i apologize quackity i would have gone if i wasn’t so busy all of yesterday at the homeless shelter. I forgot my phone.

[MamaMia] well now i just feel bad for yelling at you

[Schalt] quackity dont be a coward

[ChillTiredBi] Schlatt can you shut up

[Schalt] fine 

[Ph1l] wow schlatt wont even listen to me half the time how do you do that

[ChillTiredBi] he has mommy issues and for some reason it works with me the same way people with daddy issues get attached to you

[Ph1l] ah i see

[Schalt] I DON’T HAVE FUCKING MOMMY ISSUES

[ChillTiredBi] Schlatt

[Schalt] fien 

[MamaMia] this is hilarious

  
  
  


Techno chuckled again, looking up to see Techno now poking at his keyboard. 

“Hey! Stop touching. You’re going to mess something up.”

“No, I’m not, it’s fine, I just want to know what it is.”

“You wouldn’t want me touching your sword collection or some shit, would you? No? So stop touching the computer.”

Looking back at his phone, Techno saw a private message from Dream. 

[StepDream] hey techno can i talk to pinky?

[Blood God] sure you wanna phone him or what

[StepDream] yeah that’ll work

Techno got up, going to the computer, opening Discord, and calling Dream. It rang for one or two seconds before Dream picked up. 

“Hey, Techno. I just need a bit of private talk with Pinky. It’s about the whole psychic link thing.”

“Are you okay?” Techno immediately gripped the table harder, while Dream chuckled.

“I’m fine, thank you for caring though. It’s mostly just stuff about Pinky’s universe.”

“Alright then, I’ll leave you alone. Pinky, tell me when you guys are done. Or not, I think I’m gonna take a walk to the park. I’ll see you when I get back.”

Pinky waved as Techno moved to the door.

-

Phil sat at his desk, leaning back in the chair with his feet propped up on the desk. He twirled a lock of his blonde hair on his finger. He was taking a small break from his work, needing the brain break. He was having a bad workday. His phone buzzed in the pocket of his jacket and he pulled it out, seeing it was a text from Techno. 

[Child#1] Phil

[Child#1] Phil i require assistance

[Child#1] Phil please 

[Child#1] Phil i am Stuck

[Child#1] Phil i never should have tried to climb the tree

[Phil] what are you, 4 years old? I’ll be at the park in 5. 

[Child#1] Thank you phil 

[Phil] you’re welcome problem child 

[Child#1] I love you phil

[Phil] I love you too son

  
  
  


Sighing, Phil got up, stretching and yawning. He headed to the door quickly, making it out of the building at a brisk pace. 

The building he worked at was barely two buildings away from the park, so making it out had been most of the 5 minutes. He managed to make out the strawberry blonde of his son’s hair in a tree near the edge of the park. Then he saw the head he recognized as Techno’s drop out of the tree. From an injuring distance up. He started to sprint, fear filling his mind. Making it inside the walls, he breathed a sigh of relief as he realized someone had been there to catch him. He ran over, waving to Techno, seeing the boy wave back. 

“Phil! Phil, I got saved!”

“I can see that!”

“Phil, look, it’s Philza! Pinky’s dad!”

The man who’d saved Techno chuckled, the sound shockingly familiar. 

“Pinky? I gotta say, mate, that’s the best nickname for Techno I’ve heard in a while.” 

Phil looked up at Philza, who smiled down at him. The man was wearing an odd uniform, blue with red and gold accents. Funnily, the bucket hat exactly matched Phil’s, only differing in color. 

“I assume you’re here for your son?”

Philza’s face shifted through 5 different emotions at that moment, and what he managed to say was only, “Uhhh, yeah.”

“Well, we’ve been taking care of him since he got here. I don’t know how you guys are gonna get home, but you’re free to stay with us until you figure it out.”

Philza stared, silent for a few seconds before he laughed, breathy, and Phil could tell it was a bit shocked.

“I didn’t think it would be nearly this easy,” he said, looking down. Phil could tell that there was confusion in his mind, something was not adding up. Or at least, there were expectations not met. 

“Well, what are we waiting for? Techno, lead the way to your dorm.”

-

Techno listened to Dream hang up just as three people barged into the room, including-

“Dad?!”

Philza laughed. He opened his arms as Techno ran over to tackle him in a hug. 

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Phil, we have so much to talk about. I thought I would be blocked off here in this weird world but get this- the Dream from this world accidentally established a mental connection to our Dream, and he’s been able to mentally break him down. If we get back soon, we can take him out!”

Philza’s eyes widened at that, and he stepped back to look at his son. 

“Really?” An unreadable emotion swirls in his eyes as he speaks, his inexplicable worry weighing down on his chest. 

“Yeah, Greenie- that’s what I’m calling the good Dream- said that Dream had a full-on breakdown last night, and that both Sam and Punz left him after that.”

Philza stayed quiet, thinking. Plans, thoughts, everything circled through his head. 

“Alright then,” is what he settled with, “Now we just find our way home.”

-

Phil opened the door to the roof of the apartment building that Philza was staying in for the time being. As he’d suspected, Philza was there, staring off at the setting sun, a look of apprehension resting on his face. He glanced over at Phil, greeting him, but going back to staring quickly. Phil took a seat on the edge, legs dangling off over the street below. 

“What is it that’s bothering you so much?”

Philza looked over at him in surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what is it that’s bothering you? It’s a simple question.”

Philza looked at him for a long moment before sighing.

“It just seems too good to be true. All of it. Immediately finding Techno, him being safe, then immediately having a place to stay while we work our way home, don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful for it, but it seems… too easy. Especially with the Dream thing,” Philza explained, face creased with worry as he looked down at the people walking below.

Phil stayed silent for a moment before speaking again, “You know, I get that. I get the anxiety, especially with your background, it would make a lot of sense. But sometimes, good things happen. I’m sure you know that, but still. Sometimes, though it’s good to be cautious, you have to just accept the good things that come your way. Let yourself be happy for a bit without worrying whether something bad will still happen. I suppose, really, you can be both at the same time.”

Philza hummed in agreement, letting a smile make its way into his face. He supposed he could be happy for a bit.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY PASSED MY DRIVERS TEST TODYA WE WIN THEESEEEEE AHHAHAH
> 
> anyways im a sucker for nickname soooo GIMME GIMME UR NICKNAME IDEAS HAHAH
> 
> :D


	4. [Blood God] YOU GAVE TOMMY A GUN !?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> been thinking of getting a stick and poke tattoo that says boohoo cracker

Tommy stared into the mirror, extremely spaced out. His eyes were unfocused and hazy as he rolled over in his bed, hand going over his torso as he stared up at the ceiling, his mind shifting to who knows what every 30 seconds. 

He wondered what time it was. He didn’t feel like shifting his head to find out, so he laid without the knowledge, not really caring at this point. 

The door to his dorm room slammed open. 

“Tommy!” 

“Mmh,” was Tommy’s response as Tubbo ran over and jumped onto the bed next to him.

“A bee landed on my finger today!”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! She was a honeybee, and I was next to some flowers, and I was touching a flower, and then she went from the flower to my hand, and she stayed there for like, 30 seconds!” Tubbo rambled, as Tommy nodded. 

“That’s cool Tubbo.”

“I know, right?!” Tubbo shouted, blowing Tommy’s eardrum out as he yelped, turning over in the bed and slamming his hands onto his ears. He mumbled something that could be translated to, “Too damn loud…” 

“Sorry, big man, I just got a little excited,” Tubbo laughed, prying at Tommy’s hands, which were firmly planted over his ears. 

“Mmmmh, noooo,” he mumbled into his pillow, but Tubbo saw the grin on Tommy’s face as he turned his face partway into the pillow. 

“Come on, Tommy, let go!” Tubbo laughed, pulling at Tommy’s hands, yelping and falling over in the bed when Tommy let up suddenly, laughing as Tubbo flopped into the comforter.

“That’s for yelling so loud in my ear, moron!”

“Tommyyyy,” Tubbo whined, “I didn’t mean tooooo!” he burst out in a fit of giggles as Tommy flopped over on top of him, hands going to the most ticklish part of his sides. “Stop, stop-” he let out, bursting out in laughter as Tommy lost his grip and fell off the bed with a yelp, then yelping himself as Tommy dragged him down with him. 

“You should never have crossed me, bitch!” Tommy grinned beside him, not actually attacking him anymore. 

Tubbo laughed, grabbing onto Tommy’s hands as they laid on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. 

They stayed like that for a while, both of them eventually falling asleep. 

-

Tommy woke up to shuffling noises and whispers in the corner of his room. Groggily, he shifted, careful not to wake up Tubbo. In the corner, he could make out the rough shapes of two people standing worriedly. One was about his height, and the other was maybe 5 inches taller than him. They both looked shockingly familiar. Tommy groaned, getting up to look at the figures better. He rubbed at his eye, trying to get the sleep out of it. Tubbo mumbled on the ground, grabbing at Tommy’s ankle. Tommy looked down at Tubbo, who blinked up wearily at him.    
  
“W’s go’n ‘n,” he slurred out.

“Mm, dunno. People in th’ house,” Tommy responded sleepily, looking back over at the figures. “Can’t r’lly see, no cont’cts.”

Tubbo’s brows raised at that, which looked funny, because his eyes didn’t widen, making an odd expression that Tommy chuckled at. 

“People?”

“Yup. ‘nless they’re ghos’s, dunno.”

“Mmh,” Tubbo hummed, using the hand Tommy offered to stand up and look for himself. They both stared at the corner, Tommy squinting while Tubbo’s expression shifted into surprise. 

“Tommy, it’s us,” Tubbo said, hand clutching Tommy’s. Tommy was still squinting. Pulling out his phone with his free hand, he turned the flashlight on and pointed it at the corner. It didn’t really help the blurriness. 

“You sure?”

“I mean, yeah, they don’t look like they could be anyone else. That’s you, there, and that’s me, but they’re different.”

“Like, Pinky’s universe different, or ghost different?”

“Pinky.”

“Then I guess we should call Techno. Or Phil, Phil could help too. Oi!” He addressed the figures in the corner. 

The two were silent.

“Tubbo, can you grab my glasses? From the bedside table,” he specified as Tubbo turned to the table with the lamp. Tommy held out a hand and after a few seconds, Tubbo placed the glasses in his hand, and he put them on, sighing with relief as he opened his eyes and everything was clear. His eyes focused on the figures again. 

“They are us. Huh,” Tommy said, and Tubbo nodded. 

“I could kill you right now,” were the first words out of the other Tommy’s mouth.

“Yeah, whatever. At least I’m mentally stable,” Tommy quips, easily remembering Pinky’s story.

“Damn, Tommy, no mercy. Did you really have to go with that?”

“No, but I figured I should put him in his place before he goes bragging about his height,” Tommy stated, making a side-long glance at the other Tommy, who stared at him, mouth slightly agape. 

“Tommy, why don’t you go contact Phil and Techno while I handle talking to the traumatized, emotionally volatile people over here?” Tubbo said, pointing to a corner and nudging Tommy. 

“Yeah, that’s fair. If they hurt, you, though, Tubbo, I’m pulling out the gun Schlatt gave me.”

“I- Schlatt gave you a gun!?- Nevermind, just go get this sorted out while I try and communicate,” Tubbo said, shoving Tommy now, who laughed as he went, pulling the texting app up on his phone while Tubbo turned the lights on. The sudden brightness made him blink for a second before opening the group chat on Discord.

  
  


[CHILD] hey techno 

[Blood God] Yeah

[CHILD] there are another me and Tubbo in our dorm room

[Blood God] Where

[CHILD] my dorm room, i just said

[Blood God] sor ojjkHOn 

[CHILD] you ok there man

[Blood God] Wrestling for phone with pinky

[CHILD] i would prefer it if phil + za came over instead

[Ph1l] phil + za?

[CHILD] quick, short and to the point

[Ph1l] we’ll be there in a bit

[CHILD] he threatened me so i insulted his mental state

[Schalt] thats my boy

[CHILD] Schlatt i might have to pull out the gun you gave me if Stabby over there doesn’t stop threatenig tubbo how does it work again

[Blood God] YOU GAVE TOMMY A GUN !?

[Schalt] I KNEW HE MIGHT NEED IT

[Schalt] anyways tommy its loaded so you need to cock it and then to fire it you pull the trigger

[CHILD] noted

[Blood God] Schlatt how could you do this 

[Blood God] You gave a violent child a gun 

[CHILD] Stabby just touched tubbo i have my hands on the gun

[Ph1] Tommy, stay calm. we’re in the building and coming up. 

[Schalt] shoot shoot shoot

[MamaMia] SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT

[StepDream] if you point a gun at that kid he’s probably going to either break down or freeze like a deer in headlights

[Samsung] SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT

[Samsung] wait there is a Man In My Room

[StepDream] shit i forgot to warn you guys

[Samsung] he is now threatening to burn down my house

[Samsung] send help

[Samsung] wiat he realized who i am

[Gogy] I hate this

[Gogy] So much is happening at once and its too hard to follow

[StepDream] how do you think the readers feel

[Blood God] dream dont go breaking some fourth wall that really isn’t funny at the moment

[StepDream] sorry bad timing

[Schalt] Tommy how’s it going over there

[CHILD] Stabby is crying into big p and Twobbo is crying as well

[Bee] i have been relieved of very awkward scary talk

[Bee] Stabby is very mean

[Bee] other tubbo isnt as bad but still scary 

[Bee] Tommy put the gun down

[CHILD] no-one threatens tubbo

[Bee] Phil is literally right there im fine

[Karl-Chan] fun fact two sapnaps is far too much to handle

[Karl-Chan] the other one already has a nickname good god

[Karl-Chan] OH GOD THEY’RE DOUBLE FLIRTING WITH ME

[Blood God] Pinky says that if you flirt back he’ll drop dead

[Karl-Chan] he didn’t drop dead but now he’s standing in the corner staring at his hands

[Gogy] WHAT THE FUCK IS EVEN GOING ON

[Blood God] recap time? does everyone need a good recap?

[Gogy] YES

[Blood God] @ChillTiredBi please 

[ChillTiredBi] i wont be able to do much just based on chat but ill try

[ChillTiredBi] from the beginning?

[Blood God] just from Philza arriving

[ChillTiredBi] alright. 

after philza got here, philza and pinky are staying in a separate dorm on campus. Just tonight, tommy and tubbos alternate universe forms showed up. they were semi-aggressive, so tommy was cautious. phil/za are currently sorting that situation out. sapnap’s other form is here as well, and currently in gay denial 

[Gogy] you are a God

[ChillTiredBi] ik the feeling of getting overwhelmed by information 

[Gogy] i owe you one

[ChillTiredBi] manicure

[Gogy] on me for teh both of us

[ChillTiredBi] this is why you’re my favorite

[Schalt] i feel betrayed

[ChillTiredBi] schlatt 

[Schalt] ok

[Blood God] Ok that recap is useful

[StepDream] yes very

[StepDream] i think we might need a good orginizational meeting soon, tho

[StepDream] three new people need to be situated and housed 

[Ph1l] agreed. karl and sap, bring other sap to my apartment. eret, i want you there as well

[ChillTiredBi] i’m on my way

[StepDream] i’m coming as well

[Ph1l] good. 

-

Eret stepped into the crowded apartment, seeing many things happening at once. SapTwo was in the corner, sitting criss-cross applesauce with a pout on his face. Twommy was shouting, and Twobbo was behind him, almost just as vocal. The two were confused and looked hurt. Dream was trying to explain something to them, while Tommy and Tubbo played on a switch on Phil’s bed. Sapnap and Karl were in the corner cuddling, Karl in the other’s lap. Phil and Philza were trying to calm Twommy and Twobbu down. 

“What do you mean, he banned us?! Banning is such a- he wouldn’t just ban someone out of nowhere!”

“Dream isn’t stable anymore, Tommy, he’s manic and afraid. Impulsive, he’s banning anyone that upsets him at this point. He thinks it’ll solve all his problems. He knows that his time has come, but he’s trying to prevent it, he’s abusing his admin powers even though he knows the consequences. Soon enough, he’s going to taste his own medicine. But he’s going to put up all of the fight he has before he goes down. I know that it’s-”   
  


“How the fuck do you know anything!? You’re just some-”

“Sure, I was before, before this mental link was established! Now I have no choice but to know everything because it’s broadcasted into my head twenty-four fucking seven! Do you know, Tommy, what having a clear, unfiltered view of Dream’s thoughts is like? I know that you’ve been through a lot, seeing Dream’s memories says that, but looking at that man laid out before you, it’s- I can understand fully why you despise him. He’s terrifying. Barely even human at this point.”

“He’s evil, sure, but he’s not-” Twobbo trailed off, face conflicted. 

“He is, Tubbo. I’m sorry that his wrath got directed at you. But now, we have to just move forward. There’s never a rest for the wicked, as they say.”   
  


The two kids stayed silent after that, going to their own corner of the room to talk quietly. Eret emerged from the shadows after that, causing Tommy to throw a look of hatred his way. He didn’t really know why, but he assumed it was something his alternate had done.

“Not your Eret, sorry. Didn’t do whatever yours did.”

Tommy gave him an odd look. 

“You never betrayed anyone?”

“He snitched to Phil one time about me ’n Techno’s potato mafia. That was a betrayal, especially after he said he was on our side. He even took up the treasurer position, only to call Phil when we agreed to meet with another mafia,” OG Tommy’s voice came from the other side of the room.

“Tommy, you were agreeing to talk to an extremely dangerous criminal who was clearly pissed about your jump into power in the criminal world.”

“Still, I was very betrayed.”

“So, he’s a traitor…?” Twommy asked.

“Yup. He’s never betrayed me, like, ever other than that one time, but I still consider him a traitor.”

“Alright.” Twommy seemed to take some comfort from that, which confused Eret. Shaking his head, he turned to SapTwo in the corner. 

“What’s up with you?”

“Fucking time-out.”

“What’d you do?”

“I don’t even know,” Sap whined, resting his head on a scarred hand.

Eret sat down beside Sapnap. 

“I guess it might have been me staring at Karl too much.”

Eret looked over at Sap, who now had a sad look on his face.

“I miss Karl,” he whispered, genuine pain in his voice.

“What happened?” Eret asked simply.

“Dream. He separated me and Karl, and I haven’t seen him for weeks. Just because he’s a member of New L’Manburg. I miss Karl so much, we were…” Sap trailed off, and Eret could easily read between the lines. 

“Yeah. I suppose seeing other Sapnap and Karl over there all happy together doesn’t help either.”

“It fucking doesn’t, man. I- it hurts, seeing just how happy they are. How sad Karl was when I last saw him… I- Karl- I don’t know how to explain it-”

“You love him?”

“Yeah. I love him. And fucking- Dream, with his excuses and everything, separated us. I left him, but just today, he fucking banned me for no good reason. I didn’t even get to see Karl again. I just-” Sapnap let out a frustrated growl, and Eret laid a comforting hand on his back. “I miss him. I never wanted to leave him. And now I think he’s mad, he thinks I left him for Dream. Damnit…” 

Eret could do nothing for Sapnap except lend a comforting hand. 

-

Dream walked home. The little voice in his head broadcasted what Dream was doing and thinking at the moment, as it always did these days. He’d learned to easily tune it out at this point. 

E-Dream was stable at the moment, not too manic, not too mad or anything. Dream decided to keep it that way, not wanting anything else to happen or anyone else to get banned. He was already having to deal with a lot, especially since having way too many people in this universe meant way too many conflicts and way too many people to house; too many explanations, too many nicknames and too much confusion. Dream sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose to try and quell the headache it all gave him. 

He probably shouldn’t have thrown himself head-first into everything. But what choice did he have? It wasn’t like he could just ignore the link, or Pinky, or their situation. He supposed he could have gone easier on the psychological warfare, but that was about it. He really couldn’t control much else. Sighing, Dream turned into an alleyway. Hopping up and pulling himself up each edge and overhang and going up the building with expertise and experience, he made his way up to the roof. 

He looked down at the city as his hair blew in the wind, making strands of his green hair tickle his cheeks up in the cold air. He’d dyed it one day on a dare and it had ended up suiting him, so he dyed it regularly. Mysterious green eyes watched over the lit-up campus as Dream stood on the edge of the roof. 

He liked the scenic route. 

His tan trench coat also blew in the wind, the belt whipping around as the wind picked up. Dream glanced up, seeing the storm blowing in. Rain. 

Dream decided he couldn’t dally any longer, hopping down from the ledge onto the firm concrete of the roof. Excitement filling his mind as adrenaline started to rush through his system, he took off at a run, hopping over the thin alleyways from roof to roof. His sneakers hit the roofs at a steady pace, his hands in his pockets. 

He’d been speedrunning and doing parkour since he was 8, when he’d had to teach himself to get away from some particularly nasty school peers. After he’d learned it was a professional sport, he’d signed himself up for lessons. Dream was a natural at it. 

It was also comforting, letting himself go and running without stop. Feeling the air hitting his face as he sped across the terrain without stop, it was a feeling that Dream reveled in. It was reckless, it was dangerous, it was amazing. It really suited him, he supposed. Reckless but agile and powerful, impulsive and risky yet calculated; all those traits added up to Dream. 

Rolling through a particularly high fall, he sprung back up, going without stop. He’d passed his apartment ages ago. He didn’t care. A smile was riding on his face as he ran over the rooftops of the city. He didn’t think, only running and riding the high that jumping over the alleyways and flying over obstacles gave him.

He loved the scenic route. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AIGHT HOW WE FEELING IM P HAPPY W HOW THIS IS GOING 
> 
> might reply to comments if my anxiety stays low today so feel free to ask questions :D 
> 
> i am very excited
> 
> :D


	5. "Public execution..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you can s m e l l my midwesterness with this one and for that i sincerely apologize but not really

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)

Tubbo’s ear twitched, flicking away a bug that’d been buzzing around his head. The small horns that rested on the sides of his head were somewhat obscured by his hair, which had been growing recently. He really couldn’t care enough to get a haircut. And then he was in this odd world, with people who were so familiar but so _different_ , it was all driving Tubbo to a bad headache. He sat in the bed he’d been generously offered the night before by someone who’d been unknown to him. He still hadn’t seen the person, only been escorted to their house and guided to the guest bedroom. 

He thought about how easily Tommy had agreed to being split up. It made his heart hurt. He looked up as footsteps approached from outside. The door opened, and there, in pajama pants and a far too large t-shirt, stood J fucking Schlatt. 

Tubbo’s breath quickened. He wasn’t prepared for this. The man’s brow creased with worry as he saw Tubbo’s reaction.

“Hey, kid, it’s- you okay, bud? I’m not here to hurt’cha, just brought you some breakfast. If you want, I can just leave it here or something- yeah?” Schlatt said in a calming tone that wasn’t all that calming to Tubbo. Schlatt set the plate with bacon, eggs, and toast down inside the doorway and backed away, his face ripe with an expression that Tubbo easily read as empathy. 

What the fuck? 

Schlatt wasn’t empathetic, he was anything but that. Silently, the voice in Tubbo’s head reminded him that this wasn’t his Schlatt. This was a different Schlatt. Everything about this Schlatt said that. The way he walked, the lack of horns on his head, the faces he made, the emotions he showed, hell, even the hospitality that let Tubbo sleep that night; it all told an entirely different story than the Schlatt Tubbo knew. That thought, for some reason, gave Tubbo a decent amount of comfort. He got up, walking to the doorway and picking up the plate that Schlatt had placed. He poked his head out of the door and saw a hallway that clearly led to a kitchen. He nervously headed down it, not noticing that he was subconsciously tip-toeing to make sure he didn’t get caught by some threat that wasn’t even there. Poking his head into the kitchen, he saw Schlatt humming as he cooked something that smelled like sausage on the stove. There was something playing music that Tubbo didn’t recognize. Schlatt started to sing along, getting really into it. 

“With a taste of your lips, I’m on a ride, you’re toxic, I’m slipping under, with a taste-” Schlatt’s voice cracked on that word, and he coughed, stopping his little dance to wheeze, the coughs almost cartoony. Then Schlatt spotted Tubbo in the corner of the room, startling. He jumped, yelping. He calmed after he realized it was just the boy.

“Hey Tubbs, whatcha doin’ over here? Well, eating breakfast probably,” Schlatt trailed off, staring at the plate in Tubbo’s hands. Tubbo was startled by the nickname. 

“Tubbs…?”

“Ah, sorry kid, that’s what I sometimes call the Tubbo I know.” Schlatt went back to cooking the sausage on the stove, talking to Tubbo with his back turned. “If you don’t like, like it or something-”

“No, no, it’s fine. Just weird.”

“How so?”

“My Schlatt was… well, let’s just say he wasn’t nice.”

“In what way?”

“Well, first he overworked me, then he started hitting me-”

“He _what?!_ ” came Schlatt’s incredulous reply as he turned again, and Tubbo saw the shock in his expression.

“He hit me, and then he made me plan my own public execution,” Tubbo continued, saying it so casually that Schlatt could only stop and stare. “What?” he asked after what seemed to be far too long of a silence.

“Public execution,” Schlatt muttered under his breath, incredulous. “Well, kid, I’ll tell you that I have experience being hit by adults as a kid. But I- fucking- public execution, god damn!” Schlatt laughed breathlessly again.

“You what?”

“I joke about it a lot. My mother wasn’t exactly the nicest fuckin’ person, really. She was quite the opposite, in fact. You can infer from there. But fuckin’- what kind of world do you come from?!” 

“I don’t know at this point. Seeing everybody in this weird universe, though, I suppose it’s somewhat of an awful one.”

“Huh,” was all Schlatt said to that. He moved to put the sausage he’d been cooking on his own plate, turning off the oven and moving the pan to the sink. He moved to sit next to Tubbo, who didn’t protest. 

After a decent amount of them eating in silence, Schlatt spoke up.

“I assume you don’t want to be stuck here all day inside, so if you could choose something, what would you like to do today?”

Tubbo was surprised at the question.

“We’ve got a few options; there’s a shooting range, a trampoline park, a mall, a park, a zoo, and uhhh-” Schlatt tapped his fork on his plate as he thought, “- I think there’s also an amusement park nearby, but it’s one of those expensive ones,” Schlatt listed, looking expectantly at Tubbo.

Tubbo was silent for a bit before he answered, “The shooting range, I guess.”

“Alright! We can leave once I do the dishes,” Schlatt beamed, getting up from his now cleared plate.

Tubbo got up as well, moving to help Schlatt, who looked at him confusedly but said nothing, letting him help. 

-

Tubbo had been confused as to what cars were the first time he’d seen one. He was still confused. When Phil had driven him to Schlatt’s house, he’d been confused to no end as to what the car was. Phil had laughed when Tubbo told him he either just ran places or took a horse.

Now, Tubbo sat in the front seat of Schlatt’s broken down car while Schlatt backed out of the driveway. Foreign music blasted yet again, more of the same woman who’d been singing before. They were on the road, and Schlatt hummed peacefully along with the music. There were strange metal signs all along the road, and the whole city setting still unnerved Tubbo. 

-

Tubbo stood with a crossbow in his hand. The familiarity of the weapon gave him comfort, as he tossed it from hand to hand. He’d probably also try one of the bows he’d seen earlier as well. For now, his mind was focused on the target and the weight in his hands.

“You know how to use that thing, kid?” Schlatt asked from beside him, and Tubbo nodded. Schlatt looked nervous, vocalizing it, “Listen, bud, I just don’t want you to hurt yourself. I’m all for reckless decisions, but-”

“Just give me an arrow.”

Schlatt reluctantly handed the arrow over, and as soon as it grazed Tubbo’s fingers he’d loaded it with an expert and experienced hand, only taking a few seconds to aim, after which the bolt sunk deep into the bullseye, and Tubbo smiled, the familiarity of the action making him feel a bit at home in this odd world. 

“Holy shit,” Schlatt whispered from beside him, and Tubbo turned to him. An incredulous look was plastered across his face.

“I was the best shot in L’Manburg, aside from Tommy. My trusty crossbow is still at home. She’s taken out many, many a person. Quackity most. I believe Quackity has amassed a total of over 600 minor deaths, at least 100 of those by my hand, half of those from a distance.”

Schlatt burst out laughing at that, barely able to get a word in between wheezes.

“Fucking- 600-” he doubled over again, “-I can’t- of course Quackity would-” 

Tubbo laughed a bit himself, he had to admit it was funny. 

“But- 50 bullseyes from a distance? Where’d you learn all this, kid?”  
  


“Tommy’s dad Philza taught me all about fighting. He found me in a box by the side of the road.”

  
  
“Well, do you want to go to the different targets over there? I wanna see just how accurate you can be.”

“I guess.”

-

Another arrow pounded into the head of the human-shaped target as Schlatt cheered.

“You’re fucking amazing, kid!”

  
  
Tubbo smiled. He really liked the praise. The other Schlatt had never praised him. And when he did, it hadn’t been genuine. But the real awe that Tubbo saw in this Schlatt’s eyes made him smile. Really smile. 

“Alright, it’s lunchtime. Whaddya want, Mickey D’s or Culver’s?”

“I don’t know what either of those are, Schlatt.”

“Then Culver’s it is. They have really good fucking ice cream, I’m gonna get you a concrete mixer,” Schlatt grinned, motioning for Tubbo to come along as he moved to the exit. Not dragging him. Just letting him come on his own. 

Tubbo followed.

-

Tubbo decided that he really liked Culver’s. He bit into a really good steak sandwich that Schlatt had called a burger and the bacon and cheese flavors danced on his tongue. It was so good, he’d never had anything like it. He set the burger down for the fries. Schlatt handed him a small nugget dipped in a white condiment apparently called “ranch”. He took it and popped it into his mouth, eyes going wide at the flavor. It was cheese again, something Tubbo had decided he really liked after trying it a total of 2 times, but breaded. The ranch somehow made it all the better. He smiled through the mouthful of food he had, and he saw Schlatt pull out a device that looked like a communicator. The thing made a noise and then Schlatt put it back away, a smile on his face. Tubbo shrugged, going back to eating his meal. 

Afterward, Schlatt got up with a quick, “Be right back.”, and Tubbo sat, somehow still hungry after all that food. He quietly consolidated the trash they’d made during their meal, not sure where to dispose of it but sure that Schlatt would show him when he came back. 

Soon enough Schlatt did, with two containers in hand. He handed Tubbo one of the containers, using the freed hand to pick up the tray that Tubbo had collected the trash on. 

“Didn’t know what kinda sweets you like so I got you just regular MnM’s and Oreos. Based on your reactions to burgers, I don’t think you’ve ever had ice cream before, so you’re gonna love this,” Schlatt grinned, and Tubbo scooped a bit of the creamy substance into his mouth as Schlatt dumped the tray into the trash bin, setting the tray itself on top of the bins as they left the restaurant. Tubbo’s face lit up as the sweet and cold delicacy melted on his tongue. He savored the taste on his tongue for a few moments. His eyes were squinted shut in delight. He took another bite, then another, then another. He practically shoveled the stuff into his mouth, wanting as much as he could get. Schlatt laughed, pulling out his device again, the thing making the same sound as before. Tubbo tilted his head in confusion, and Schlatt chuckled. 

“Just taking pictures, big guy.”

Tubbo nodded in acknowledgment. 

The two walked to the car again, Tubbo already almost finished with his ice cream. He got in the passenger’s seat while Schlatt started up the car, the engine revving as Schlatt quickly backed out of the parking space. It was about 1:45 at this point, so they still had time in the day.  
  


“Alright, where else do you wanna go, kid?”

“What’s a mall?”

Schlatt was surprised Tubbo had remembered that option specifically.

“A mall is just a bunch of shops put together in one big building for convenience. You need a bunch of shit? Go to the mall, you can get all the shit at once. Hell, go to the mall to spend all your money on shit you don’t even need. It’s a cool place but also a dangerous one if you’re trying to be money savvy,” Schlatt explained as they drove along the city road. 

“Let’s go there,” Tubbo said, looking over at Schlatt. Schlatt looked like he’d been secretly wishing Tubbo hadn’t suggested that, but he nodded anyway. They were headed to the mall. 

-

Tubbo stepped into the huge building with Schlatt, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. 

“It’s so big,” he mumbled under his breath, corner of his lip twitching up into a smile. 

“Yup, that’s the mall for you. Now, I don’t know what you want to do first, but you need some new clothes, so let’s head over to the nearest clothing store,” Schlatt said, starting to walk one way and letting Tubbo follow. “I think there’s a Gap or something near the entrance if I remember correctly,” Schlatt mumbled. Tubbo stared at a storefront that drew him in. There were graphic designs on shirts, cool little things, all assortments of clothing. He started to drift towards it, and Schlatt followed wordlessly. 

As Tubbo stepped into the little shop, a nice person with bright green hair greeted him. 

“Hi! Welcome to Hot Topic, can I help you today?”

Tubbo didn’t really know how to respond, so he shook his head with an apologetic smile. The person smiled back at him and went back to what they were doing. Tubbo started browsing through the stuff in the store, seeing different shirts and pants and skirts and jackets. All the options almost overwhelmed him, but he eventually settled on an outfit that consisted of a black t-shirt with a bee pattern on it, black plaid pants that were cuffed, some white converse sneakers that had a rainbow pattern on the side, and a yellow and black striped long-sleeve shirt Schlatt had made him get since it was getting cold. He’d also picked up a black and white checkered belt, some simple white socks, and a bee hair clip that Schlatt had handed to him after he caught him staring. Schlatt paid with the same odd plastic card he had at the restaurant. 

Tubbo carried the bag of new stuff out of the store while Schlatt could be seen shedding a tear for his wallet. Nevertheless, Schlatt nudged Tubbo towards a bathroom.

“Go change. The suit is not only in need of replacement but attracting stares. Remember to take the little things attached to the clothing off, they’re uncomfortable,” Schlatt directed. Tubbo did as he was asked, changing in a stall. The bathroom was uncomfortable and foreign in its construction, but he changed quickly and left, relieved to be out of there once he was. He saw Schlatt greet him with a smile, and they went about the rest of their trip through the mall, Tubbo feeling a bit comfier as they did so. 

The next stop they made was a place that Schlatt called a “movie theatre”. Tubbo glanced around and smelled the overwhelming scent of butter in the air as Schlatt worked to get them tickets to something. Tubbo let Schlatt take the lead through the theatre, following him in step as he led the boy through the place, eventually through an odd little room and into a giant room with a bunch of seats and a large black surface that all the chairs faced. Schlatt led him to the seats in the very middle of the room. 

No one else was there yet. 

Then the screen lit up.

Tubbo audibly gasped as moving pictures started to appear on the screen, and Schlatt laughed beside him. It took his breath away, it was as if everything was happening before his very eyes, like he was there where everything on the screen was happening. His eyes shone with excitement and his posture was a raptured one, on the edge of his seat and back straight as he leaned towards the giant screen.

It was currently playing a febreeze ad. 

When the movie started, Schlatt had whispered to Tubbo to try and keep quiet for the other people in the theatre, and Tubbo tried. It was hard, though. Visual effects and music and special moments never failed to draw a gasp or a whisper out of him. No one really minded, as he was quiet about it. Tubbo watched the screen as the character named Elsa shot ice across the mountain, making a bridge of the stuff as she sang loud and clear. Tubbo’s mouth was slightly agape and he was gripping the edges of his seat. He shoveled popcorn into his mouth periodically.

When the movie ended, they walked out, silent until the second Tubbo stepped foot into the hallway right outside of the amphitheater. When his mouth started, it didn’t stop moving until he was eating Panda Express from the food court. He was still talking in between bites. Schlatt listened the whole time, nodding along and letting him rant. Tubbo only really stopped talking when they passed a display with a large bee plushie. Tubbo’s words stopped mid-sentence as he stared at the object. It called to him like the voices called to Elsa in the movie. He walked to the glass that separated him and the plush, fingers touching the glass. He looked back at Schlatt with a look that made Schlatt look at him with an extremely conflicted expression.

“I’d really like to get it for you, Tubbo, but I’ve already spent a lot of money today,” Schlatt said, face regretful. Tubbo’s puppy dog eyes stared into Schlatt’s soul. Schlatt looked back and forth from Tubbo to his wallet.

-

Tubbo walked out of the mall grinning and with a large bee plush in his arms. Schlatt walked defeatedly but with a smile behind him, shedding another silent tear for his poor wallet. They headed towards Schlatt’s car, Tubbo practically skipping. 

Tubbo sat in the passenger’s seat again, buckling the seat belt as he’d been instructed to do every time he got in a car. He hugged the plush to his warm chest, the smile not slipping from his face once during the comfortably silent drive home. 

-

Tubbo ran into Schlatt’s house as the garage door closed in the room behind them, turning and walking backward to continue the talk they’d been having face-to-face. They were talking about nothing important, bouncing words off of each other and making lazy conversation. Tubbo yawned loudly, and the clock read 7:59 PM. 

“You should go to bed soon, kid, it’s been a long day.”

“Nah, I’m used to surviving long days. I’ll be fine.”

“Well, you don’t need to ‘survive’ right now. Get some sleep, let yourself get some rest. There’s no need to stay awake.”

Tubbo’s heavy eyelids and hazy brain agreed with Schlatt completely. 

“You can borrow one of my shirts for a pajama shirt, and a pair of gym shorts or something. Go on ahead to your room and do whatever you do to get ready for bed normally while I grab those,” Schlatt said, and Tubbo complied, meandering off to the room he’d been given.

-

Tubbo laid in bed, comfortable under the covers with his new stuffie, hugging it tightly. 

He wasn’t bothered by endless worries or guilt that night before he slept. He went to sleep easily. 

His dreams that night weren’t tainted with screaming memories of endless war and fighting and cycles of betrayal. 

He dreamt that he was in a happy world with Tommy by his side, where they had ice cream every day and they weren’t soldiers or leaders or anything. They were just them, Tubbo and Tommy, happy and free. 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thought you guys deserved a bit of fluff :D 
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE COMMENTS !!! EVERY SINGLE ONE MELTS MY HEART AND MAKES ME SO FREAKING HAPPY !!!! 
> 
> anyways wrote my 3000 words for this one way easier than i thought i would sooo yeah that's poggers lol
> 
> ALSO i apologize for all the errors in this one, i usually do minimal editing to get these out quickly for you guys. next chapter will be better edited, i swear ;-;


	6. [StepDream] brb george just called going to blast heatwaves again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i know i said i liked fluff but o_o

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm will i delete this later becayse i didn't think it through nd just posted it to get the daily chapter out? probably not. im no coward ill face this shit heaodn try me

Sapnap sorted through his inventory, ignoring the cooing of the two next to him. He sorted his valuables and weapons/armor for the 19th time that day, bored out of his goddamn mind. He closed his inventory again, groaning. He hated this. 

And yet, when he saw a sparkle in the corner of the room, it only got worse. Karl. 

As Karl materialized in the corner, one could easily make out his defensive position and shaking. Sapnap shot to the corner, making the other two in the room jump, jostling from their mindless… whatever they were doing. 

Sapnap dropped to his knees near the developing figure, fiddling about it as the man slowly came into this reality. Sapnap decided on wrapping his arms around him, feeling the sob that had been frozen as it finished, Karl sinking into Sap’s embrace. 

“No, no, no, please-” the words fell out of his mouth as if they’d never stopped, and immediately Sapnap started whispering reassurances and words of comfort.

“Hey, hey, hey, Karl, you’re okay, you’re okay, you’re with me. Karl, shhhh,” he murmured, feeling the tension in the other man as he shook in fear. 

“Sap…?” came the quiet, broken voice from Sap’s arms, and Sapnap almost broke at that. He didn’t, though, pulling back only slightly to look at Karl. As he saw Karl’s state, multiple emotions flashed through his mind at once. Karl was covered in scratches, with a  _ boot print _ imprinted on the side of his face, as multiple awful scratches ran along the other side, gruesome and bloody. His arms were worse, bloody and cut up, covered in lacerations. His colorful hoodie was ripped, revealing developing bruises that looked like they were only starting. His ankle was twisted the entirely wrong way, the untied shoe that sat on that foot soaked in blood. 

“Sapnap, he- Dream-” Karl started bumbling, reaching out and pulling Sapnap back into his embrace, which Sapnap allowed for 10 more seconds before whispering several reassurances to him and standing up, picking the other man up easily, laying him out on the second bed in the dorm room he’d been allowed to stay in. He gently placed a kiss to Karl’s hand as Karl winced and grunted at the pain of being handled. 

Sapnap whirled to Pyro and Kid, what he’d decided to call the two, taking in their shocked and scared faces. 

“What medical supplies do you have in here?” he asked, prompting Pyro to shake his head.

“Dude, the best thing to do is to call an ambulance and take him to the hospital, the best we have here is a shotty cheap first-aid kit,” Karl informed, taking out his phone. 

  
“Then call whatever the fuck an ambulance is and get me that first-aid kit so I can fix him up. Now,” he added, prompting Pyro to quickly run off and ruffle through a cabinet.

“Catch!” he yelled, and Sapnap did so easily, throwing open the plastic box to find some supplies he could use. 

-

When the ambulance arrived, Sapnap was highly worried as to whether he should trust any random people with Karl. After much deliberation, they let him stay in the vehicle with Karl as they rode off to the hospital.

The healing potion Sapnap had had in his inventory had done wonders in closing up some wounds and stopping a lot of the bleeding as well as fixing his ankle, and the regen had replenished his energy and helped him get out of his panic, but now all Sapnap could do was hold Karl’s hand as strangers fixed him up, staring at his partner’s pained face, still slightly indented with the print of the boot sole. Dream’s boot sole. 

Sapnap seethed, his anger quiet and deadly. He would get Dream for this. Dream was going to fucking pay, the crazed bastard. Sapnap scowled silently, hand tightening on Karl’s. When the man squeezed back, Sapnap let out a soft smile, looking over at the man. Karl winked at him, and Sapnap laughed, not caring about the odd looks the strangers gave him.

-

Sapnap sat in the hospital. He was being questioned.

“What happened?”

“Fucking Dream happened.”

“Who’s Dream?”

“Guy we know, used to be friends with, until this happened. He’d been acting odd recently, then he banned me and attacked Karl. He’s banned a whole bunch of fucking people, now. Luckily, when we get back, we’re gonna fucking kill him. He can find another fucking server to torment,” Sapnap explained, reading the odd expressions of the people questioning him.

“Kill?”

Sapnap realized that death was permanent here, probably meaning that was much more of a statement here.

“No, not kill. Just move him to a different fucking server. Permanently. Maybe lock him up in that stupid prison he’s building. Something to punish him for the deaths he’s responsible for,” Sap sighed.

“You should leave that to law enforcement.”

“There’s no law enforcement. We’re the law and the enforcement where we come from, uncharted… uncharted land,” Sapnap said.

There was silence at that. Sapnap sighed. 

“I know it’s suspicious or whatever but I really can’t explain all that much because I don’t know all that much. I’m just as confused as you.”

-

Sapnap was eventually let back to Karl, who was awake in the bed talking to his other-self. Arguing to be specific. 

“He’s not nearly as hot, look at that lack of muscle. You need to eat more, man, you’re a toothpick!”

“I am perfectly healthy!” Pyro whined.

Karl noticed him with a cheer, “Here he comes! Sapnap, help me explain why you are definitely hotter than other Sapnap.”

“I- what?”

“My Sapnap is much hotter, he’s a skinny legend, perfectly healthily so. He’s perfect,” Kid said as he draped himself over Pyro, who chuckled.

“My Sapnap is big and beefy, can your Sapnap pick you up easily?”

“No, but he’s an artist. Can  _ your _ Sapnap draw a sick tattoo?”

“No. But at least he’s big and strong and sweet. He’s perfect,” Karl said, beckoning Sapnap down so he could drape bandaged arms over his wide shoulders. “See?”

“How about we settle that our respective Sapnaps are both good for us?”

“Agreed,” Karl hummed happily as he draped himself over Sapnap, who was bent down for him.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he smiled, and Karl grinned.

“Much! I think those potions you used really worked their magic. One more healing and I could be out of here right now, easily. I’m gonna be left with quite a few scars, but what’s a few more to add to the pile?”

“Hold on, I think I might- I had a ton of shit when I was banned, but if I actually have the supplies for this-” Sapnap searched through his inventory, eyes glazed over. He laughed breathlessly as he saw the brewing stand that he’d dismissed earlier alongside nether wart and glistering melon. He searched for blaze powder with hope on his face, but it dropped as he saw he had none. “Do you have any blaze powder on you? I don’t have any, but it’s the last thing I’d need to make a healing potion-”

“Dude, I have some right here!” Karl beamed, handing the powdery substance to Sapnap, who took the brewing stand out of his inventory and placed it on the ground, taking the glitter and sprinkling it into the specified tube to power the device. He took out the water bottle he’d grabbed from his house before he was banned and attached it to the brewing stand, working the nether wart into the concoction and scooting back in his criss-cross applesauce position. He let it work as Kid and Pyro talked.

“Dude, we’re so sus, the hospital staff is gonna arrest us for witchcraft.”

“Imagine it, though, it’s iconic, you walk in severely injured and strut out the same night fully healed. Hot girl shit.”

“Yo, you have a point. I don’t want us to get kidnapped by the FBI, though.”

“Valid, valid.”

Sapnap ignored them, changing out the nether wart for glistering melon. He watched it brew impatiently. It finished, and Sapnap picked up the finished potion as well as the brewing stand, which he threw into his inventory as he got up.

“It’s finished!” he grinned, walking over to Karl’s bed again and handing the potion to the other man.

As Karl chugged the healing potion, a nurse walked in.

Now, first of all, it’s unnerving to see two sets of oddly different twins in one hospital room, but when one of the guys is chugging a pink juice and making the hospital devices go off, it’s particularly shocking. 

The nurse shouted in alarm as the devices beeped and whirred at the anomaly of Karl’s quick healing, while Karl was grinning, flexing his extremities with a newfound power. He was better. 

The nurse was going about the devices to fix them as Karl jumped out of the hospital bed, stretching and flexing. He jumped up and down a few times. 

“Man, I love healing pots. I barely ever mind the scars, the effects are always perfect,” Karl laughed, turning to Sapnap, who also grinned. They high-fived.

“Are we going to get arrested for witchcraft though?” came Pyro’s voice from behind them as the nurse just stared at Karl and Sapnap, mouth agape and face shocked. 

“How-”

“Healing pot babeyyy!” Karl shouted, “The magic of glistering melons!”

The nurse stared.

“Potion?”

Xyr face was now alight with a burning curiosity that Karl matched with enthusiasm.

“Yup!”

“How do you make it?”

The one thing Sapnap had not expected was this.

-

[Samsung] Arson and Karl2 are teaching the hospital nurse how to make healing pots

[StepDream] i am so sorry for karl i couldn’t stop dream whatever i did 

[Karl-Chan] dude its not your fault you cant control him

[StepDream] still

[Blood God] Did someone say healing potions ??

[Samsung] yuh

[Samsung] hold up lemme ask pronouns

[Samsung] gottem

[Samsung] the two have adopted xyr as an apprentice

[Samsung] xe is now crying at the knowledge that all the ingredients come from the nether and therefore the potions are impossible in this universe

[StepDream] damn

[Blood God] f’s in chat

[Ranboob] f

[Bee] f

[CHILD] f

[StepDream] f

[Cat] f

[Furry] f

[creeper] f

[Ph1l] f

[Karl-Chan] f

[STFU] f

[Gogy] f

[GoodGirlHalo] f

[SkepDaddy] f

[Nihachu] f

[Bee] WHEN DID NIKI GET HERE

[Nihachu] hey tubbo

[Bee] HI NIKI :D

[CHILD] tubbo you ruined the chain

[Nihachu] i got here just yesterday actually :)

[Blood God] kk lemme just

[Blood God just gave Nihachu the nickname Niki]

[Niki] :)

[Bee] :D

[CHILD] i hate my name

[Blood God just changed TommyInnit’s nickname from CHILD to LittleBoy]

[LittleBoy] chang eit back rightt thsi fuckinf seocnd or im cmmithin violrfn acts if atrocieteis

[Blood God just changed TommyInnit’s nickname from LittleBoy to CHILD]

[CHILD] i should never had said anything

[StepDream] hold up pinkys stories gave me a good idea

[StepDream just changed TommyInnit’s nickname from CHILD to Theseus]

[Theseus] i can work with this

[Bee] I WANT A COOL AND MEANINGFUL NICNAME TOO

[Theseus] Techno any ideas

[Blood God] hmmm 

[Blood God just changed Tubbo_’s nickname from Bee to Icarus]

[Blood God] idk what else lol

[Icarus] this is confusing 

[Theseus] Agreed

[Blood God just changed Tubbo_’s nickname from Icarus to Bee]

[Bee] well tommy you’ve got me here

[Theseus] lulw

[StepDream] brb george just called going to blast heatwaves again

[Blood God] What does that even mean

[StepDream] fuck off let me indulge

[Blood God] whatever

[StepDream just changed GeorgeNotFound’s nickname from Gogy to YNTBKSHYDRYN]

[YNTBKSHYDRYN] what the actual fuck

[Blood God] Yeah nope

[Blood God just changed GeorgeNotFound’s nickname from YNTBKSHYDRYN to Gogy]

[Gogy] Dream what were you doing

[StepDream] lol idk

[Blood God] oh god not

[StepDream] what techno you didn’t

[Blood God] you’re a fucking degenerate

[StepDream] HWO DID YOU FIND THAT IT WAS NEVER POSTED

[Blood God] WHO EVEN WROTE IT THATS NOT YOUR FUCKING WRITING STYLE

[StepDream] Skeppy actually did as a joke

[Blood God] wait really 

[SkepDaddy] how the fuck did techno get his hands on Heat Waves

[Blood God] you guys forget that i have automatic access to all of your google drives

[StepDream] o 

[Blood God just changed Dream’s nickname from StepDream to Degenerate]

[Degenerate] fair

[Degenerate] but

[Dream changed their nickname to StepDream]

[StepDream] i like this better

[Blood God] of course you do 

[Schalt] is dream Whipped

[Blood God] Yeah

[StepDream] fuck off

[Gogy] what

[Gogy] the FUCK 

[Gogy] is going on

[SkepDaddy shared a link!]

[StepDream] SKEPPY WHAT EH FUYVI   
  


[Blood God] Skeppy i need to talk to you its actually really well written since when were you smart

[SkepDaddy] been writing fanfiction since i was 10

[Blood God] Yeah that checks out 

[GoodGirlHalo] he had me beta read quite a bit of Heat Waves

[StepDream] wait what

[GoodGirlHalo] Skeppy’s really talented i love him :D

[SkepDaddy] thsnka

[Blood God] My time has come

[SkepDaddy] wait what

[Blood God] While Gogy burns his eyes on Heat Waves im gonna go write skephalo fanfiction 

[Blood God] Bad, skephalo is a popular ship from a show i know :)

[GoodGirlHalo] oh ok thanks Techno :D

[Blood God] np

[Schalt] out of nowhere but how the fuck do i explain tubbos scars to a 5-year old

[StepDream] idk

[Schalt] oh gos tubbo told him and teh kid started crying

[StepDream] whatd he say

[Schalt] “oh, that’s from my best friend’s brother killing me with fireworks”

[StepDream] damn

[Schalt] the other kid said ‘cool’ im fucking dying

[Blood God] pfft

[Schalt] now the both of them are asking tubbo about all of his scars

[Schalt] oh fuck tubbo storytime children and people are gathering

[Schalt] everyone is listening to tubbo re-tell his trauma

[Schalt] well half is trauma half is just monsters n shit

[Schalt] this might go on for a while 

[Gogy] I

[Gogy left the chat]

[StepDream] …

[Blood God] BAHAHA HEKHVGFEW

[SkepDaddy] PFFT

[Samsung] we out da hospital boys karl all healed up B)

[Karl-Chan] look at him go rockin the look

[Karl-Chan] sent an image

[Karl.png]

[Blood God] what the fuck even happened to him

[StepDream] dream happened

[StepDream] still pissed i couldn’t stop that 

[StepDream] ANYWAYS

[StepDream added GeorgeNotFound to the chat]

[StepDream just gave GeorgeNotFound the nickname Gogy]

[Gogy] bleach

[Gogy] spare some bleach

[Blood God] h a r s h

[StepDream] ahaha

[Samsung] dream bro r u ok

[StepDream] yeah lol (l\l0)

  
  


-

Schlatt watched from the sidelines as Tubbo wove the stories of his lifetime from each little mark on his body. He was telling them about a skin graft on his arm at the moment, explaining how skin grafts worked. 

“I lost the skin there to a blaze! Blazes are fearful creatures of the nether made of fire! You have to defeat them for their rods if you want to make things like potions! A blaze once grazed it’s rod along my arm here, burning me so bad the skin wasn’t recoverable. I had to go straight home from the nether and to my friend Niki, who got new skin to replace it. It healed quickly with a few healing pots, thankfully. Oh, and here-!” Tubbo ranted on and on, spinning the fantastical tales for the children and adults watching. He seemed to have an infinite number of scars, always having a new one to pull out, dragging it on. Children and people came and went as Tubbo rambled to the crowd. The children were entranced by the boy’s stories, listening for as long as they were allowed to. Tubbo kept on going, and Schlatt let him. Tubbo seemed to enjoy it, talking endlessly, telling his story. Schlatt liked seeing the boy smile. 

“The nether holds many a fearsome creature, and you should never underestimate it. Let me tell you about wither skeletons,” the boy grinned, getting quite a few looks from the children. Tubbo went on to describe the creatures in detail, going on about the effect they had when they hit you, and things of the like. 

Schlatt watched, smiling.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> life put me through a rollercoaster while i wrote this so i apologize if it sucks lmao here u go
> 
> im getting like 5 hours of sleep tonight before driving myself to school in yye morning ignore all my spelling errors in notes n stuff lol


	7. [Samsung] thats a lot of pent up emotion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> READ NOTES AT END OF CHAPTER
> 
> anyways umm not me using a randomized generator to decide what university to have this take place in- 
> 
> welcome to the university of Iowa
> 
> (not based on the actual university of Iowa)
> 
> yes they're still British its called exchange students

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> days not crying in band: 0

[Theseus] Techno

[Blood God] hm

[Theseus] can you get pinky to help me with decorations around campus? some of these are too heavy for me and tubbo and we’re th only ones out here decorating for some reason

[Blood God] we’re on our way

[Schalt] Twobbo says he wanst to come

[STFU] i dont care if Twommy want sto come or not im coming and im dragging him with me the kids been sulking all week

[Ph1l] we’re coming as well :)

[Bee] DECORATION PARTY POG

-

[T3chn0] hallo ?

[Blood God] i got pinky a cheap phone 

[Theseus] oh god there’s two of them

[T3chn0] there have been two of us for the past month, tommy.

[Theseus] fuck i cant deal with twice the bullying

[Blood God] how about we take turns bullying him

[T3chn0] im up for that 

[Theseus] THATS NOT MUCH BETTER

[Bee] welcome second techno :D

[T3chn0] thank you tubbo

[Bee] :)

[Blood God has given T3chn0 admin status]

[Blood God] just in case

[StepDream] how active you think u gon be

[T3chn0] i’ll be active if i need to be

[Blood God] cool

[T3chn0] i find it funny that i’m techno and you’re the blood god when im the one who’s struck hundreds down and has the nickname for actual reasons

[Blood God] I got this nickname by being able to get literally anyone expelled from this school

[T3chn0] hah ?

[Blood God] I can get this stupid administration to get rid of whoever i want, i can always find the right dirt and make the best arguments

[T3chn0] administration? g o v e r n m e n t ?

[Blood God] basically

[StepDream] don’t go trying to overthrow them though or they’re gonna call the actual government on you

[T3chn0] disappointing but understandable

[Blood God] but yeah i’m the go-to for girls who’ve been harassed and have no justice n stuff

[T3chn0] oh i remember doing that job once in hypixel

[T3chn0] i did a bit more than expelling but whatever

[Blood God] how so

[T3chn0] i either banned them or banned them teh hard way

[Blood God] the hard way?

[T3chn0] banned them with my sword 

[Blood God] nice

[Blood God] who all did you get? Just harassers or more?

[T3chn0] harassers, cheaters, many a chat abuser, mainly just assholes 

[Blood God] same here

[StepDream] “banned them with my sword” pfft-

[T3chn0] ?

[StepDream] sorry i just find that really funny

[Theseus] everyone look at the main street look at it 

[Theseus] sent three images

[decor.png]

[lights.png]

[tree.png]

[Theseus] i felt like i should share again

[T3chn0] tommy we helped you do that

[Theseus] i am fully aware

[Theseus] let me be proud of doing the majority of this ive spent the past few days on all this

[Theseus] with no help other than tubbo and schlatt

[Theseus] thank u guys fro helping me btw

[Bee] :D

[T3chn0] no prob

[Blood God] ditto

[StepDream] ur welcome 

[STFU] twommy says “you’re fuckin welcome bitch”

[Theseus] tell him he’s a bitch

[STFU] im not gonna be your messenger for a cussing fight between the two of you

[Theseus] it was worth a try

[Bee] how’s twobbo doing?

[Schalt] actually quite well

[Bee] thats good

[Schalt] how are sapnap2 and karl2 doing

[Karl-Chan] just wonderfully

[Samsung] we get along swimmingly

[Karl-Chan] we also force them together into romantic situations

[Samsung] its sad how blissfully oblivious they are at this point

[ChillTiredBi] Sap2 isnt oblivious

[ChillTiredBi] at least not to his own feelings hes not

[ChillTiredBi] to karls feelings however, thats an entire different story

[Samsung] i thought that was the case

[Karl-Chan] my dearest Karl2 is unsure of his own feelings at the moment

[Karl-Chan] i actually feel bad for him 

[Karl-Chan] he’s convinced himself that he’ll get in the way for some reason

[Samsung] hold up they’re kissing

[Karl-Chan] oop-

[Samsung] thats 

[Samsung] thats a lot of pent up emotion

[Samsung] are they crying

[T3chn0] makes a lot of sense

[Samsung] im leaving the room they obviously need some privacy

-

[T3chn0] not sun tzu’s the art of war being real in both dimensions

[Blood God] it was just so powerful 

[SkepDaddy] quit being fucking nerds and help me 

[GoodGirlHalo] i can help you skeppy :0

[SkepDaddy] THAJKS UT NO TAKDS BSD

[GoodGirlHalo] ok skeppy

-

Skeppy created a new group titled HELP

Skeppy added Technoblade and T3chn0

[Technoblade] What is it

[Skeppy] i am in need of assistance

[T3chn0] we figured that out

[Skeppy] ok so i really want to confess to Bad on christmas but i don’t know how 

[T3chn0] you’re asking two asexuals, neither with any history of romance

[Technoblade] you should have asked the DT

Skeppy added Dream, Sapnap, and GeorgeNotFound to HELP

[Samsung] whats up dude

[Skeppy] i wanna confess to Bad on christmas but i don’t know how

[Dream] and you thought to ask techno first

[Skeppy] he’s my best friend other than bad

[Technoblade] im flattered

[T3chn0] last time i saw my skeppy i low-key stabbed him

[GeorgeNotFound] nice

[T3chn0] wait no that was the battle of the lake last time i killed skeppy was the war

[Technoblade] nice last time i stabbed someone was when i got drugged and stabbed squidd kid, who was also drugged 

[Technoblade] we were getting kidnapped together

[Dream] a nice bonding experience

[Skeppy] can we stay on topic please

[T3chn0 just changed Skeppy’s nickname to SIMP]

[T3chn0] proceed

[SIMP] fair 

-

Private messages between T3chn0 and BadBoyHalo

[BadBoyHalo] hey techno

[T3chn0] i think you have the wrong techno

[BadBoyHalo] do i? sorry 

[T3chn0] eh its fine whats up 

[BadBoyHalo] skeppy is avoiding me and im sad about it :(

[T3chn0] do you need me to talk to him 

[BadBoyHalo] no its fine

[T3chn0] you’re much easier to talk to than my Bad

[BadBoyHalo] thanks ?

[T3chn0] no problem

[T3chn0] you’re much less terrifying

[BadBoyHalo] im glad you feel safe around me :)

[T3chn0] :)

-

AHHHHHHH

[StepDream changed the group name to XMAS TIEM BABEY]

[StepDream muted everyone]

[StepDream] ANNOUNCEMENTS

[StepDream] it seems like everyone has big plans for christmas, and we have many a person joining us this year. i want to say that when we meet on christmas day at Schlatt’s house, i want everyone to be respectful of everyone who’s visiting and anyone who may show up yet. here are the plans - !!!!

we will all stay at Schlatt’s mansion from Christmas Eve until new years day and maybe the day after that! Schlatt, say something

[StepDream unmuted Schalt]

[Schalt] yes i own a mansion yes im still broke its called a rich uncle who left me a house but no fucking money anyways if any of you break anything precious im locking you all in and telling technoblade he has full permission to kill whoever the fuck he wants

[StepDream] thank you schlatt for that 

[Schalt] i just dont want you guys to start thinking i actually have money- you’re all eating off the dusty china in the house because i didn’t buy paper plates

[StepDream muted Schalt]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!! READ THIS !!!!
> 
> the everyday upload schedule is taking a small break for three days, but im coming back on Christmas morning with a 5-7k word CHRISTMAS SPECIAL !!! :D load the comments with things you wanna see, things you're excited for! i'll be taking plenty of ideas from requests!
> 
> Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy holiday seasons !!!! :D
> 
> (also i responded to comments yesterday are you guys proud of me)


	8. Christmas SPECIAL :D !!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i sincerely apologize that this came out on Christmas night rather than morning, there were a lot of holdbacks and i was MUCH busier that i expected. nevertheless, i hope you enjoy this chapter! my daily posting schedule will probably be back to normal by the new years :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got a freaking squishmallo for christmas and its name is henry after the Minecraft cow

Schlatt hummed quietly, gloved hands mindlessly going over each of the dishes as he washed. He heard Tubbo singing in a different room somewhere upstairs, sweeping. The boy had insisted on helping out, grabbing the broom and disappearing as Schlatt had started washing the dishes in preparation for the event the house was to be used for. 

He sighed, setting the last dish in the drying rack. 

Turning to the rest of the gigantic kitchen, he let himself lean back onto the counter with a light groan. What did he get himself into?

-

The first ones to arrive were the Technos; one in a red hoodie under a trench coat and joggers, and the other in a crown, a red cloak with white fur lining, shoulder armor, a white dress shirt with a mandarin collar, black joggers, and no shoes, showing off the hooves where there should be feet. The Techno in a trench coat held a bag filled to the brim with plastic cutlery. The bag itself was a woven one, made from old, well-loved cloth. Technoblade’s calloused hand brushed over Schlatt’s counters as he listened to Schlatt explain what he needed help with still. 

“I just need to tidy up and dust the few rooms we’ll use, and then everything’s ready for the whole thing,” he announced with finality, tired of the work but glad that it was finally over. His eye caught on the other Techno. “You good over there, Pinky?”

Pinky’s face was concerned, shocked, mostly surprised. 

“This is a woodland mansion,” he murmured, hands grazing along the dark oak of the walls.

“Yes, it is a mansion in a woodland. Astute observation.”

“I meant that it’s a Woodland Mansion, proper noun. These are very frequently found in my universe, and usually, they’re filled with Evokers and Vindicators.”

“Can confirm having stayed here for the past few days, there are no creatures other than the bugs here. Tubbo did mention this place being familiar, though--” Schlatt took the bag Techno gave him-- “I just assumed it was a false sense of deja vu.”

“No. I’ve seen these walls far too many times for that to be the case.”

“What do you propose we do about it, then?” Schlatt’s tone was a little bit more exasperated than he realized.

“Nothing, sorry. ADHD…” Techno trailed off as he mumbled, skulking out of the room to the rest of the house. Schlatt cocked a brow but turned back to the preparations he was making.

“Dude, you can’t just shut someone down like that. He was probably just making an observation,” Techno scolded, looking to the hallway Pinky had run off down.

“I didn’t know, sorry,” Schlatt mumbled, unsure of what he was supposed to do. He was tired and ready for this to be the last interaction he had today. Techno sighed and took the plate from his hands. Schlatt looked up.

“Go. Your room, wherever you’re staying. You’re tired, you need a break.”

Schlatt wasn’t going to say no to that.

-

The next to arrive were Phil and Philza. The latter had his wings out, lowering them to get through the doorway. 

“Woodland Mansion? Weird. Must be some kind of reality breach, maybe happened a while ago,” Philza said, looking around at the house.

“Pinky said the same thing. He’s wandering around here somewhere,” Techno replied, looking down the hall again. “Went that way, I believe. Schlatt accidentally shut him down. Schlatt’s taking a nap at the moment, he’s been far too busy. Do either of you feel like cleaning up some bedrooms? Everything else is done, Schlatt and Tubbo have done good work here.”

Both Phils nodded, and Techno motioned for them to come along.

-

The next people to show up were the makeshift family that consisted of Wilbur, Fundy, and Twommy. Twommy was glowering like he always was. Wilbur and Fundy came up to Techno to greet him as Techno watched Twommy get pulled away by Phil. 

“Techno! It’s amazing to see you again, my friend!”

“Wilbur, you’re my brother, you still facetime me when you can’t sleep,” Techno smirked, sighing as he accepted the large hug anyways. He gave finger guns to Fundy, who finger-gunned right back. 

-

Dream and George showed up with far too many presents in their arms. Techno and the others had left their presents in the car, but it looked like Dream hadn’t had the same idea. Techno, having stayed in the kitchen all day, had no idea where the tree was. 

Nevertheless, he led them down the hallway towards the middle of the house. They followed him, chatting up a storm while Technoblade stayed silent, only answering when he was questioned. Eventually, they ran into Pinky, who was exploring the house with a torch in hand. 

“Techno Cosplay?” Dream asked from behind George, causing Pinky to sigh.

“No.”

Pinky’s red cape swirled as he started to walk off, but was interrupted. 

“Hey man, have you found, like… the main room? Or at least where the Christmas tree is?”

“I saw a large spruce tree in one room covered in stuff, is that what you’re talking about?”

Techno nodded, and Pinky sighed.

-

The next to arrive were the Karls and the Sapnaps. 

Techno led them inside, guiding them to the main room. He grabbed the Phils as well, who were wandering at this point. Most people were gathering towards the main room.

Techno led everyone towards the Christmas tree, gathering them and telling them to sit. When everyone was chatting and more people were arriving, he went up to grab Schlatt from the man’s nap.

-

Eret pushed the door open, grunting with the effort. It was a huge house, he had to admit. He didn’t see any people, but he followed the sounds of the voices to a large room with a long table and a Christmas tree in the corner, with people sitting on the ground and other people’s laps all around, chatting. He brushed the snow off of his hat as he walked in, waving and greeting people. He greeted both his friends and the new people, eventually finding a place to settle on the floor, not complaining when Techno plopped his head down on his lap with a tired sigh. He carded a hand through the startlingly pink strawberry blonde hair sprawled out on his lap, making Techno smile. Eret knew Techno well enough to know that even though it was only 3 in the afternoon, Techno was already far too tired. Eret also knew Techno for long enough to know that the man wasn’t afraid to admit he liked a good head rub from time to time. He laughed when Techno lolled his tongue out, shifting his head to the side to mock death. 

“Eret, it’s been so long. So many people. I’m dead, I can’t go on any longer.”

“When did you even get here?”

“Like, 6. Didn’t sleep last night, too busy writing. Novel and such.”

“That would explain why you’re so tired. When did you wake up yesterday?”

“Around 7 I think. I don’t really know, it’s hard to keep track of.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that, Techno? Jeez, I’m gonna have to force you to bed tonight.”

“Noooo… Don’t- Don’t make me sleep- I’m-” Techno laughed to himself. Eret sighed. The man was too tired to do much more. 

“Take a nap, Techno.”

-

Squid looked down at his phone at his conversation with Techno, then up at the gigantic house in front of him. It was the right place. And yet, he felt inexplicably nervous. Sighing, he pushed forward, moving his way up to the door. It took a bit for him to push the door open, it was old and big, and rusty too, if he was hearing the squeaks coming from the door right. When he’d successfully stepped into the building, the door slamming behind him and making him startle, he looked around, not knowing which direction to go. He heard distant noises somewhere, but he couldn’t really decipher where they were coming from. His ears rang a bit, and he frowned. 

He headed down a hallway that had a bit of light coming from it. His head popped around the corner, seeing a person all the way down the hallway. Squid recognized the frame as Techno, with the broad shoulders and thinner waist. He jogged over, though slowed a bit as the figure turned to him and it was definitely not his Techno. 

“Techno?”

The man was like Techno, but different. His attire was much more royal, his stance guarded, and his appearance more fantastical; oddly shaped ears, scars, startlingly red eyes. The face shape was the same, though, and oddly, so were the teeth. The same odd, misshapen teeth that Squid recognized as Techno’s were bared as the man let out the familiar sound of confusion.

“Hah?” 

“Hmm?” Squid hummed back, on instinct. 

“...Squid Kid? Is- are you- oh--” Techno’s mouth formed an o-shape as he came to some sort of realization. 

“What?”

“You’re- you must be Toothpick’s Squid. Uh, this is incredibly awkward--” he slumped a bit as he looked around, seemingly for something that might help him get out of the situation he was in. 

“I’m lost.”

“That- I can help you with that--” Techno flipped the torch he was holding and it faded out of sight as Techno started at a stride down the hallway Squid had come down. He startled after a second of staying still and started to run after the man. 

By the time he’d caught up, they were entering a large hall with a Christmas tree, a long table, and way more people than he’d expected. He was greeted by Techno’s friends, and… clones of Techno’s friends? 

“Squid! I forgot I invited you.”

“I almost forgot you did too.”

“Understandable. Uhh…” Techno trailed off as he thought. He was still laying with his head in some guy’s lap as the guy continued to play with his hair, making small braids and pulling them out. “You can find somewhere to lay or sit down, if you wanna take off your coat there’s a coat pile over there in the corner. Welcome, I guess. Don’t be shocked by the doppelgangers, they’re pretty chill. A few more might show up, don’t be surprised by that either. Just… I don’t know, treat them normally.”

Squid nodded. He supposed this is what he got for going to Technoblade’s party. The guy’s friend group had always been weird. 

-

Skeppy and Bad had carpooled with Sam and Ant, though Ant was sort of wishing he hadn’t agreed to it. Skeppy was singing at the top of his lungs while Bad laughed, the car was blasting Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You. Sam was wearing sound-canceling earphones and gazing out the window. Ant really wished he had sound-canceling headphones. For as much as he loved his friend, Skeppy sucked at singing. Luckily, they pulled into a long driveway, signaling that the ride was over. So was the song, just as they parked. Skeppy laughed with Bad as they got out, Ant stretching heavily after the long car ride. They glanced up at the huge house in front of them, Bad letting a small gasp escape his lips. 

“That’s a big house.”

Indeed it was. Sam wondered how many rooms were inside. 

When they entered, they were greeted by Pinky, who was a bit grumpy. He’d apparently been assigned as official guide so people didn’t get lost along their way to the gathering, and wasn’t happy about it. Nevertheless, he led them on their way to the hall where everyone was gathering. Immediately, Skeppy and Bad were laying down near the fire, Bad using Skeppy’s stomach as a pillow. Sam and Ant found their own ways to where they felt like sitting.

-

Tommy and Tubbo showed up late, as expected, but with food. 

They’d picked up the order of pizzas, as instructed, and as soon as they stepped into the building, anyone could hear a collective stomach rumble from the hall caused by the scent of cheese and tomato sauce as it wafted throughout the house. 

They walked through the door that Techno held open for them and were greeted by many hungry faces. 

Schlatt was awake and walking in with plates. Philza was trailing behind him with the remaining plates, as well as a pack of plastic cups. Schlatt yelled at people to be patient as he set the table, and Tommy and Tubbo set the pizzas in the middle of the table, finding their seats before the others did. 

As people sat down at the table, grabbing at pizza and asking for drinks as Schlatt and Philza went around the table pouring water, conversations started up. Tubbo and Twobbo talked, finding a nice conversation. Twommy and Phil were still nowhere to be found. Eret was telling a story of the GSA at a school he once went to. Philza was telling stories of his hardcore world as he stood above Pinky, braiding and playing with the long pink hair. Squid stayed quiet in favor of enjoying the food. Dream was struggling, but he managed to get out a few replies to the conversation he was a part of, he spent most of dinner struggling and massaging his temple. 

-

They all wanted to do more than just dinner on Christmas eve, but everyone was more tired than some of them would like to admit. 

Techno led Eret and Pinky to the room that they’d decided on sharing, which had far too many beds for the three of them. Eret chose a purple bed by the door, while Pinky chose a red bed in the corner and Techno chose a black one in the other corner. The suitcases had all been taken in by Sapnap earlier, so no one had to go back out outside, where it was now blizzarding. 

Techno unzipped his suitcase and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt, slipping both of the items on. He could already hear snoring from Eret’s side of the room. He sighed, wishing he’d thought of getting ready for bed earlier. 

“God fucking damnit!” 

The shout came from Dream and George’s room as a feeling crept up Techno’s spine and a creak came from Eret’s side of the room. 

“What the fuck?”

“We’ll explain tomorrow. Please, for everyone here’s sake, just lay down for now. It’s been a really long day. Pinky over there? Yeah, your Technoblade? He got thrown here too. So did everyone else who was banned. And they’re all sleeping. Unless you need medical help or Dream did some particularly bad things before dumping you on us, please lay down next to my Eret and try to rest.”

The reply was fluid and Techno didn’t even turn around as he spoke, ruffling around in his suitcase for his toiletries bag. 

“If you need to burn off adrenaline, take a walk or something. There are no Evondicaters, or whatever stays in these things in your reality. Please, for the love of god, just… wait for morning. It’s Christmas, you might even get a bonus gift with your explanation.”

As he turned, he saw Eret looking at him with concern. 

“Look, man, I’m 100% sure that Dream’s been wrestling with your Dream almost all evening to prevent him from bringing you here, and we’re all tired. Go to bed, wake up on Christmas morning. Experience a little bit of magic with your traumatic experience.”

“You’re far too prepared for this.”

“Like I said, it’s happened before.”

“Alright, I’ll go. But in the morning, I want a decent explanation.”

“If you wait until everyone who needs it has their coffee, you might just get one. But regardless, uhhh… thanks. I guess. I don’t know, man, I’m tired. Haven’t slept for two days. Worked all day. Head no work.”

Eret nodded at that. Techno sighed in relief and walked out to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

-

Skeppy was still awake.

He was an adult. He was mature. He could handle this. 

But he wasn’t sure if he actually could. 

Bad clung to his side, snoring lightly. Skeppy could feel a little bit of drool soaking through his pajama shirt. He could feel Bad’s warmth against him. Bad had a hand resting on his chest, just over his heart. Skeppy was past the point of blushing. He’d stopped blushing a while ago. There’s only so long your face can blush. He was at the point of silently overthinking while Bad’s hand swayed a bit, rubbing absently over Skeppy’s chest as he mumbled nonsense in his sleep. 

Skeppy almost lost it when Bad muttered his name. 

But he didn’t. He didn’t really know what he would do. What was he supposed to do? 

-

George stared at Dream as tears welled up in the other man’s eyes. George had only seen Dream cry 3 times in the many, many years he’d known him. Dream didn’t cry. 

And yet, tears poured down the frustrated man’s cheeks. Before George knew it, he was holding Dream as he shook. 

“George, I can’t- I just can’t stop him, he- he’s just-”

The shaking in Dream’s voice was so odd to George, but he couldn’t focus on that. He had to focus on comforting him. 

He let words of affirmation fall out of his mouth, trying to calm him. “Shhh, Dream, you tried your best, it’s not your fault,  _ it’s not your fault _ , you can’t control him- Dream, it’s gonna be okay--” he lifted his bed covers and let Dream crawl into the bed with him, not caring what stupid implications that would have. Dream needed comfort and George was not above going out of his comfort zone to give it. 

Dream eventually fell asleep, calming down and resting quietly. George didn’t feel like getting up, so he fell asleep next to him.

He didn’t care how embarrassing it would be in the morning.

-

Tommy silently waved at Phil, who walked off. It had been a long, long night of talking and Tommy was still a bit shocked at how much he had said that hadn’t been said for far too long. How much venting he’d done, how much he’d admitted to himself; it all left him with answerless questions circling in his mind. 

He’d been placed in a room with the other Tubbo and Tommy, who were doing something with their phones, giggling and sometimes yelling. Tommy ignored them in favor of laying down on one of the beds and staring at the wall. He didn’t expect to get much sleep, but he supposed he could try and let himself. His eyelids felt heavy and his body was tired.

And yet, he just couldn’t sleep; not even after the other two had quieted down and gone to bed themselves. 

So, he got up. What point was there in trying when he knew the symptoms of a sleepless night? He wandered for a while, in no direction in particular, trailing his hand along the walls.

He kind of missed Dream. 

Not really, but just a little bit. He didn’t know why, but he just did. Despite the fact that Dream was clearly bad for him, he couldn’t help but have a little bit of longing for that routine. 

“I see you couldn’t sleep.”

Tommy whirled around to see Philza leaning against a wall behind him. The man’s wings were relaxed and sagging, not perky and upright like they usually were. They still held their message of power, but it was more of a calm presence. Philza looked tired, with bags under his eyes and a slouched posture. 

“And why are you awake?”

“Been working. Trying to get us back home. I still can’t find a lead on any magic. This house is the biggest link between us and home that I’ve got yet. It’s seeming like it might be a one-way trip, only reversible by Dream’s side. This poor Dream is having to deal with ours, I feel bad for the kid.”

Tommy stayed quiet, only giving a quiet nod. He couldn’t really figure out what to say, so he said nothing. Philza sighed. 

“The kitchen is this way, let’s get a drink. 

-

The first person to wake up was Tubbo. Tubbo then woke up Schlatt, who got up groggily and with protest. Tubbo didn’t really care. He wanted to know what was downstairs. The night before, Schlatt had told him about Santa. Tubbo had barely believed him, but the shuffling and clunking noises downstairs in the night had shifted his perspective a bit. Schlatt laughed tiredly as Tubbo dragged them along, into the hall. There were more presents under the tree than there had been before, and a few presents were separated into a different part under the tree where Tubbo dashed, looking around and digging through the presents. He saw three presents labeled,  _ To: Tubbo (2) From: Santa Claus _ . Grabbing them and rushing to the corner of the hall to open them, he grinned. 

The first gift was a bee-printed stocking cap that Tubbo pulled on almost immediately, feeling the fluff inside and making a noise of delight. The fluff was amazing on his ears.

The second gift was a brand new suit, black with a yellow lining and a yellow and black striped tie. In the same gift, a small box held bee-shaped cufflinks to go on the pristine white shirt of the suit. Tubbo was amazed at the craftsmanship, it was incredible quality and Tubbo knew almost on instinct that it would fit him perfectly. 

The third gift was a sketchbook and a set of pencils. Tubbo scribbled on the paper, testing the pencils as the smile on his face only grew. 

Tubbo turned to Schlatt, who only smiled at him, a coffee in hand. 

“Santa was certainly nice to you, bud. Do you like the gifts?”

Tubbo could only nod vigorously, the sparkle in his eye telling the whole story. 

“That's good,” Schlatt laughed, turning and beckoning Tubbo to come along, which Tubbo did, jumping up with the sketchbook in hand. At that moment, Tommy pushed the door to the hall open. Tubbo swirled to run and meet him.

“Tommy, we got gifts! Come look! You got three, just like I did!”

Tommy didn’t even get a second to protest before Tubbo dragged him over to the tree, shoving the presents into his hands.

“And they can’t possibly be pity presents, they came from Santa! That means they’re gifts for the sake of gifts!”

Tommy stared at Tubbo for a few seconds. Then he sighed, going for the wrapping of the first present. 

Tommy’s first present was a device and a small box. When Tommy looked at them for far too long, Schlatt came over and took the box, inserting it into the device. He pointed to a button for Tommy to press. Tommy hesitated, but when he did, sounds started to pour out of the device, making music that was familiar but foreign. Tommy’s face softened as he listened to the piano sounds that played from the device. He stared at it.

Tubbo nudged him and handed him his second present. Tommy unwrapped the object to find a suit that went hand-in-hand with Tubbo’s. Tommy’s was white lined with red, with a red tie, and wrapped with the present were a set of cufflinks that looked like little music discs. Tubbo was fawning over the fact that the suits were matching, while Tommy wondered what he would ever use the thing for. 

The third present was a zip-up hoodie. The inside of the hoodie was lined with white fur and the sleeves were white while the main body was red. Tommy slipped it on, finding that it was nice and toasty. He nuzzled into the hoodie, liking the warmth. \

He supposed that it wasn’t too bad, getting gifts.

The next to get to the hall were the “og” Tommy and Tubbo. Tommy called them Tiny and Bee. 

Tommy ignored them as they opened their own presents. He was busy listening to Tubbo rant about who Santa actually was. Apparently, it was some bitch who broke into people’s homes to make sure kids get presents and the Christmas spirit was alive.

“Do you think the big guy is this reality’s version of magic?”

“No--” Tubbo took a cookie from Schlatt, who also handed one to Tommy-- “I think he might be  _ one  _ of the forms, but not the only. It definitely is a form of magic, though, I’m sure of that.”

“Hm,” Tommy hummed in response, munching on the candy-cane shaped cookie and nodding in agreement. 

-

When everybody was up, people gathered around the tree. A new person sat next to their counterpart, eating a cookie contentedly. They chatted with their counterpart and with Pinky, discussing the possibilities of the Christmas spirit. Eret was sitting on her cloak, which she’d unclipped and set underneath her as a cushion. The other Eret was under Pinky’s cloak, while Pinky was leading their discussion.

“I’m just saying, if some guy in a red suit crashed down my chimney and I caught him in the act, I don’t think he’d make it out without a good explanation.”

“I’m like, 90% sure that Santa only arrives when you’re asleep. He doesn’t get caught unless he wants to, that’s part of the magic.”

“Still--” Eret adjusted her cloak beneath her and cleared her throat before continuing-- “Extremely suspicious. I would be scared to open gifts that just showed up in my locked house overnight. Too risky, might be a trick or something.”

“Ditto, too many people hate me for that to be a safe option,” Techno agreed, tossing the rest of his cookie into his mouth. He continued through a mouthful of cookie, “though I suppose if it’s labeled and there’s no way it could be some sort of death plot, then it might be nice.”

Eret nodded, while Otheret (Eret really couldn’t think of a better nickname) ate their cookie quietly. 

“Hey! It’s time for gifts, everyone! George will be handing out presents, so everyone find a comfortable spot you can easily get up from!”

Dream’s voice carries over the low chatter of conversation, and most people quiet.

“George, call out the first present!”

“To Tubbo 1, from Fundy!”

The presents proceeded from there, with George calling people up from their spots to grab their presents and open them in turns. 

Tubbo didn’t expect his name to be called, as he’d already received presents. But despite that, George's voice rang out again.

“To Tubbo 2, from Dream!”

Tubbo looked up in surprise, getting up as everyone else had. He took the present from George with a nod of thanks. 

Tubbo unwrapped the gift to reveal a rain hat. It was green and resembled a frog. Tubbo smiled at it, putting it on top of his stocking cap from Santa.

“Thank you, Dream! I love it, it’s so cute!”

Dream smiled at him. 

“No problem man. I thought you might like it.”

After Tubbo’s present came one for Tommy from Sapnap. 

It was a moth stuffed animal that was crudely made but sturdy, with lopsided embroidery decorating the wings. A small tag was stitched on with the word, “Clementine” on it. Tommy wondered if Sapnap had made it himself. It made no sense. He liked it anyway. 

“Thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome! I made it myself.”

So he did. Tommy stared at it. It confused him to no end. He set it in his lap.

“To Philza, from Fundy.”

It was a new bucket hat, just like his old one but in a light blue. Also wrapped in the present was a dark blue shawl with faux fur lining and golden trim. Philza was shocked by it.

“I made both of them myself,” Fundy explained, smiling bashfully when Philza started complimenting him on his work. “I make things, and you helped me out a lot when you came to visit me and Wil, so I wanted to make something for you.”

“To Bad, from Skeppy!”

Bad was surprised to get a ducky onesie to match Skeppy’s own. It was soft and yellow. When Bad slipped it on over his thin pajamas, he found it to be warm as well. 

“I figured that when we do our long-distance sleepovers like we sometimes have to do, we should at least have a little something to share. I don’t know, it was just a whim,” Skeppy laughed while Bad spun around in the onesie, bouncing with happiness. 

Gifts went one by one, and slowly but surely, the area under the tree emptied, leaving only scraps of torn-up wrapping paper. Everyone was chatting and sharing their gifts, even Tommy found himself engaged in chatter, showing off his new moth and hat. 

-

It was when people started to stream to their rooms to get changed for lunch that problems started to arise. 

Someone, unbeknownst to everyone else, had hung mistletoe in the doorway.

Normally it would be something that most people ignore. Oh well, the mistletoe is there, whatever, we don’t actually have to kiss. Unfortunately, most of the people here were idiots. 

And that led to Skeppy trying and failing to get past Sapnap, who was blocking his path, while Bad looked extremely uncomfortable next to him. A few inches above them, the mistletoe hung. 

“Sapnap, come on, it’s just a stupid plant! Let us pass!”

“Not until you kiss! Kiss, kiss, kiss!”

Skeppy’s face glowed red. He hated the position he was in. He really didn’t want to force himself onto Bad. As much as he wanted to kiss Bad, the last thing he wanted was for Bad to be unhappy while it happened. So he kept pushing on Sapnap, who didn’t budge. 

“Skeppy?”

Bad’s voice was quiet next to him. Skeppy turned to Bad, who was looking conflicted.

“Do you just not want to kiss me? If we kiss, they’ll let us by…”

Skeppy’s brain stopped for a moment. 

“Ah, no, I definitely want to kiss you, I just didn’t want to make you uncomfortable-”

“You what?”

Ah, fuck.

He stood, buffering. 

“You’re such a muffinhead, Skeppy.”

Bad bent down to Skeppy’s level. Their faces were millimeters apart. Skeppy could feel Bad’s breath on his face. 

It was quick, fleeting. A small peck. Right on the lips. 

Bad looked over at Sapnap, who smirked and let up, moving out of their way. Bad started to walk by, stopping when Skeppy stayed, staring at the wall with a wonder-struck look on his face. 

Bad grabbed Skeppy’s arm, dragging him off to their room. Everyone else watched as the two disappeared down the hallway. Sapnap was grinning, having gotten what he wanted. Tubbo had a sneaking suspicion about who’d hung the mistletoe in the first place. 

-

Tubbo sat in the car with Schlatt as the two made the drive to the food place where they would pick up dinner. The country roads blurred together as Tubbo stared out of the car window. 

Before he knew it, Schlatt was getting out. He scrambled to follow.

They met a man on the curb of the restaurant who wore a mask, and he pulled a cart of food out to Schlatt’s car and made small talk as Schlatt pulled open the trunk of the car and the man put the food in the trunk carefully. 

Soon enough they were back on the road, and Tubbo was back to staring out the window. He watched the snowfall out on the endless fields, mind wandering to who knows what. 

He came back to reality when the car rolled to a stop. Tubbo got out with Schlatt, going around to the trunk so he could help bring the food in. He smelled it this time, it smelled really good. He couldn’t place what it was, so he resorted to peeking into one of the containers. It was a foreign food, but Tubbo was excited to try it. There were variations of meals, he figured out after peeking into a few more of the containers.

He grunted as he and Schlatt worked together to push open the frozen door, eventually succeeding after someone started pulling from the inside. People were gathered at the door because of the commotion, and hands started to come at the two of them, impatient for food. Schlatt cursed them back, yelling at them that it would be ready soon and to get their grubby hands away.

When they reached the kitchen, Schlatt shooed him off. He wanted to help, but Schlatt had pushed him out of the kitchen before he’d gotten the chance. 

He was kind of hungry. 

-

Skeppy and Bad returned to the hall for dinner, Bad dragging a flustered but smiling Skeppy by the hand. Tubbo greeted them with a wave and a smile, which Bad returned. The two were still wearing their matching duck onesies. 

Schlatt and Philza brought out plates with varying dishes which people fought over. Tubbo ended up with spaghetti. He spun the noodles on his fork, delighting in the taste. He wondered why the only good food in his own universe was Niki’s bread when the possibilities were seemingly endless. Someone let him try the lasagna off of their plate, and that was delicious too. 

Dream stood up and raised his glass, prompting most of the SMP members to do so as well, recognizing a toast when they saw one. The others soon followed, and then Dream spoke.

“So far, this whole thing has been going really, really well. We’ve shared a lot of things; food, drinks, gifts, and now, I’d like us to share a toast. I think we should toast to the new year, as well as to our new friends, and to their eventual journey back home.”

Many agreeing small cheers broke out, and Dream nodded. 

He raised his glass once more. 

“To all that and more!”

Water spilled as everyone started clinking glasses, laughing, and smiling.

-

New Year's Eve arrived faster than any of them anticipated. 

They all sat on the roof, bundled up and wrapped in blankets and quilts. There was an iPad propped up with the countdown going on it. Skeppy, Bad, Sam, and Ant were laid out on a king-sized quilt, Ant and Sam chatting with each other as Skeppy and Bad snuggled up under Technoblade’s stolen cape. The Dream Team were huddling under a comforter stolen from one of the rooms, watching something different on Sapnap’s phone. Both Tubbos and Twommy were harassing Tommy as they used his phone to play Terraria. The Technoblades, Erets, and Phils were playing an intense game of chopsticks somewhere farther than needed from everyone else on the roof. Wil was singing and playing the guitar while Fundy stitched his current project, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he focused. 

Schlatt was down on the ground with ready fireworks.

“Ten-minute mark!”

Sapnap’s shout rang across the roof. Each group scooted over to where they could see the propped-up iPad better, starting to talk to each other as they impatiently awaited the moment. 

When the one-minute mark was hit, everyone started to count out loud, giving Schlatt on the forest floor a good sign that he should start lighting fuses. 

3

2

1

Fireworks burst in thousands of colors as shouts erupted throughout the group. People were kissing and people were standing and jumping around, ignoring the cold of the outside. Skeppy and Bad were borderline making out while both Karlnaps were enjoying each other as well. George gave Dream a peck on the cheek. Tubbo and Tommy shouted loudly, jumping up and down, Tommy letting himself celebrate and smile. It felt good. 

Eventually, when Schlatt went MIA, they calmed their celebrations. 

Tubbo smiled. His hand was in Tommy’s. 

Pinky smiled as well. A real, wide smile. The first one Philza had seen since the Techno was 14. 

Dream smiled as well. 

Everything would work out in the end. He was sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM NERVOUS HOO BOY IM NOT SURE IF I LIKE THIS CHAPTER BUT I REALLY HOPE YOU DO
> 
> i got a fancy new light-up keyboard so half of this was typed on that lol
> 
> ummm i will probably edit this chapter a lot afterwards but hey lol


	9. "You're not dead like they told me you'd be."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR THE UNINTENDED HAITUS !!!
> 
> the break messed up my routines so much more than i thought it would, and i wasn't able to get back to work on this for much longer than intended! 
> 
> i will get back in schedule now that i can. 
> 
> and you better be ready ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my teeth hurt and i still want a tattoo

“Phil, are you 100% sure that this is a good idea?”

Philza sighed. 2 weeks after everyone had gone home, he was still here, trying to get any and every bit of information from the house he could. It was his only lead on a way back home. 

Techno was right, he knew. Trying to mess with the leftover magic was a bad idea. However, if it fixed all of this, it was worth the risk. He stared at the small golden doll in his hand. A relic; it was something that had been in his world and somehow ended up here. He stared at the small emerald eyes that seemed to stare back at him. 

“Phil.”

He sighed, putting the doll back into his inventory. Technoblade looked at him with concern that Phil didn’t respond to. He turned out of the room. 

-

Wilbur Soot’s ghost was dissociating. He knew that it was a bad habit, but when people like Dream yelled at him, he couldn’t control it. 

When he came back to reality, he stood in the middle of a living room. The soft sounds of guitar flooded his being, familiar tunes but foreign songs were sung in a voice that reflected his own perfectly. He didn’t know how to act as his vision showed him himself, sane and alive, scarless and happy, singing his heart out to a tune that he remembered clearly, one that turned into a poison plastered on the walls of his place of undoing. 

Wilbur watched the flawless man look up, right up at him. 

And Wilbur’s head exploded. Memories flooded his mind. 

The other Wilbur stared at him. 

“You’re not dead like they told me you’d be.”

Wilbur’s mind was processing, freezing, exploding, imploding, spiraling, and stopping all at once. Memories, states of mind; thoughts, words; they ran through his mind, chasing each other, trying to connect loose ends. 

He was supposed to be dead. His brain, his addled mind, was supposed to be rotting in a grave. His very being was supposed to be gone. He was a soul, he was supposed to be an unattached soul. 

And yet, there his rotten body stood, still in a bloodied shirt and trench coat. 

“You’re… definitely not dead.”

He couldn’t respond. He couldn’t even move. He couldn’t control his body, or at least he barely could. Every moment that passed, he felt himself stabilize, yet at the same time, he couldn’t possibly be stable. 

His soul was reconnecting with his body. It was trying to reanimate a 3-months dead person. 

_ It was working. _

Wilbur Soot, former president, failed father, lost son, madman, was alive. 

-

Technoblade had a horrible feeling in his chest. It was the kind of feeling you get out of nowhere that feels like something horrible is about to happen. 

He didn’t like that feeling at all. 

He sat alone in his makeshift study in the Woodland Mansion, writing the day’s theories and findings down in a journal by candlelight. His cape hung by the bedpost in the bedroom, and his crown sat discarded on the desk, reflecting the flickering candles’ light. The room smelled of lavender, as it had since Technoblade had moved into it. His bed was unmade and the red sheets were wrinkled and abused. The moonlight shining through the window illuminated Techno’s abandoned weapons on the windowsill. 

Techno’s hair was pulled back into a messy bun. The candlelight reflected off of his glasses and lit up the man’s pale skin. He grunted as the taste of hickory smoke filled the house. Phil was starting the wood burner to warm up the house again. Good. The shiver that ran down Techno’s spine caused him to sigh a bit. He closed his journal. 

Using his fingers to extinguish the candles, Technoblade stood up and stretched. A large yawn filled the silent space. Techno pulled his shirt off and set it to the side, taking note of the smell that told him the shirt definitely needed washing. 

Techno had barely made himself comfortable in the bed when he passed out like a light, exhausted from the work he and Phil had been doing. 

Phil poked his head into Techno’s room, seeing the man passed out backward on the bed and sighing. 

As he entered the room, he noted the thunder and rain that began to pound outside. The sound of birds drew him to the window. Four crows sat on a branch outside. Their caws were loud and starkly stood out from the thunder. For some reason, Phil’s heart sank a bit in his chest. 

He pulled his vision from the window and looked down at Techno. The man was snoring softly. 

Philza sighed, pulling the sheets over his son. 

He ignored the sinking feeling in his chest the caws of the crows outside gave him. 

-

Tommy sat on the edge of the roof of the large apartment complex Wilbur lived in. Rain soaked his shirt and his hair. 

He looked over at the singular black bird that perched next to him. 

It looked at him with beady black eyes that held things Tommy didn’t know. 

Tommy stared right back at it. 

Thunder crashed in the background. It almost hurt Tommy’s ears. 

He looked back down at the ground far below him. People were few and far between with the storm, and the few people that were out and about were running to get places. Tommy didn’t mind the rain all that much. More so, he was used to it. In exile, he would sit in the rain on the beach whenever the storms came. 

He felt somewhat empty. 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize for how short this chapter is, it was entirely to help me get started back up on this. the knock to my routine really caught me off guard so i needed something like this. 
> 
> if anyone gets the foreshadowing in this i will give you kiss
> 
> i worked very hard on this and will continue working hard on the new chapters for you guys >:)
> 
> see you again tomorrow :)


	10. "George, take off your glasses."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i apologize for another short chapter, but i felt it was appropriate
> 
> also, we have a chapter cap now 
> 
> do with that what you will
> 
> :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my diet for the past few days has consisted solely of mac n cheese
> 
> TW for violence

[STFU] help help help help 

[Blood God] whats up

[STFU] he is not in fact dead as you sadi he would be

[Ph1l] this is a problem. 

[T3cnh0] yes, it is.

[STFU] tommy went out to look at the storm earlier

[STFU] dont the two have some fucked history or something ?

[T3chn0] what is he doing at the moment

[STFU] well he smells bad, i can tell you that

[T3chn0] hes a corpse what do you expect

[STFU] hes having some sort of brain thing

[Ph1l] wonderfully put, so very helpful and specific, you’ve always been so amazingly verbose, wilbur

[STFU] well hes standing completely still what the fuck am i supposed to know 

[Ph1l] so he hasnt moved at all ??

[STFU] nope 

[T3chn0] were coming over 

[STFU] be my guest 

-

Ranboo kicked a flower. 

He hated this. 

He despised it. 

He was trapped. Trapped just like everyone else, trapped in this horrible place; the hub portal was marred and destroyed to prevent any hope of reporting Dream’s actions or even just getting out of the hell-hole they were stuck in. 

Another scream wracked the air. 

Dream did that a lot these days. 

Ranboo’s legs were cushioned as he sat on the long, soft grass. Small flowers grazed his hands as he ran his fingers through the natural forest floor. 

His anger hadn’t subsided, more… chilled. 

He felt a lot these days. 

Anger.

Sadness.

Grief.

The smell of saltwater drifted onto Ranboo’s tongue, making his face sour. He avoided the ocean at any and all costs. 

Ocean meant Punz. 

Punz meant questions, demands, and Dream.

_ You whisper to Skeppy: bring me home _

Ranboo closed his eyes, feeling the ground below him breeze away for a split second before coming back, hard and cold. Trapdoor. 

“Hey. How was your outing?”

Ranboo sighed. The air in the new area was humid and warm. It was comforting, to say the least. It smelled earthy. 

Ranboo had come to like his new home. 

He really had no other option. 

“It was nice, thanks, Skeppy. Almost had a run-in with Punz, but narrowly avoided it. How’s Bad doing?”

“Better. His fever’s gone down.”

“Thank god. Are any of his other symptoms going down?”

“No.”

Ranboo cursed under his breath. 

The dirt walls of their home trembled as Ranboo swung open the door to Bad’s room. Bad lay in a soft bed with a washcloth draped over his forehead. 

Bad coughed, hacking wetly and shaking, curling up as the coughing fit rode out.

Ranboo rushed to his side. Bad looked awful. Pale, clammy, skinny- Ranboo hated it. 

If the Hub portal were still open, they could get Bad to a hospital. 

If this had never happened in the first place, they wouldn’t be here. 

Stuck.

Hopeless. 

No safety. 

Afraid.

Ranboo wasn’t crying again. 

_ Tell that to the wet tears dropping on Bad’s face. _

Ranboo shook his head. 

He couldn’t break down. Not now. 

Even if he desperately wanted nothing but to cry and to run out into the rain and find an easier way out of this. 

-

Dream was grateful for George. George was the only thing keeping him sane throughout all of the chaos. 

He watched the man flit about the woodland mansion, doing his list of tasks that Dream had assigned to him. 

The man’s expression was always so blank, Dream noted. His mouth was always either a pursed line or a polite smile. 

Dream never really got to see George's eyes. He supposed that his expressions were conveyed there.

Pity he couldn’t see it. 

George didn’t agree on that. 

He thought it was a miracle that Dream couldn’t see him. 

“George, come here for a second, will you?”

George obeyed quickly. His sweaty palms were hidden behind his back as he went up to Dream with a forced smile on his lips. 

“Take off your glasses, will you?”

George’s heart dropped. His hands shook behind his back. His smile fell.

“I’d really prefer it if-”

“Do it, George. Now.”

George flinched violently at the man’s tone. 

Dream’s face shifted suddenly as he tilted back in his chair, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. He mumbled under his breath, cursing silently. 

“No, shut-  _ shut up! _ ” Dream’s voice boomed throughout the hall they sat in, and George couldn’t conceal his shaking figure anymore as the anger in Dream’s voice painted an ugly picture of what might happen to him should he step out of line. 

“George, take off your glasses.”

George hastened to obey the man, seeing the grip with which Dream held the arms of the chair he sat in. 

George’s chocolate brown eyes stared up at Dream with too many emotions to count; the largest and most potent of which was fear. 

Dream stared intensely at the doe-like eyes of his old friend. 

He read those eyes like a book, seeing the emotions swirl and broil. 

Dream’s hand held George’s chin with too much force, forcing George to look back into his eyes. George’s quick, shallow breath shook as Dream considered him with emotions unreadable behind his mask. 

George froze when the grip on his jaw tightened in a way that spelled only bad things. 

“ _ You’re afraid of me. _ ”

George’s eyes widened and his brows raised and furrowed as his breath caught. 

“No, no, no, no, Dream, you’ve got- you’ve got it all- you’ve got it all wrong, I- I was just- I’m not-”

“You’re afraid of me! After everything I’ve done for you, keeping you here, keeping you safe, giving you some uses, you’re afraid of me!”

“No! No! I’m-”

Dream shoved George to the ground, making the man grunt in pain, crying out in pain as Dream slammed his foot into his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs. 

“You’re ungrateful and fucking traiterous! I fucking-  _ I trusted you! _ ”

George couldn’t breathe, only rasp out a pathetic attempt at a plea for mercy. 

“You’ve always been so stuck-up and selfish, George, I bet it has something to do with how weak you are. Always relying on me to protect you, always hiding behind me. I was so foolish to protect you-”

Dream’s foot ground into George’s stomach, causing George to cough and hack, feeling something warm and wet crawling up his throat. 

“Look at you--” Dream watched as George’s cheeks streamed with tears-- “ _ Pathetic. _ ”

George couldn’t breath. The fluids coming up his throat were going back down, down the wrong tube, down to his lungs. 

His vision blurred and his eyes grew lidded.

“Weak.”

A firm blow to his temple was all he felt. 

-

[GeorgeNotFound drowned trying to escape Dream]

Ant stared at the notification silently. Behind him, Sam did the same. 

They needed to hurry. 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;) 
> 
> expect more spaced out but higher quality and longer chapters from now on, as we're rolling to a close. 
> 
> btw uhh if anyone actually like - o_o idk drew anything from this fic and wanted to show me, tag me in insta @saintvaast_ :D it might be a while before i see it, but yeah i would literally die if someone actually did that


	11. "So you regret it?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hello again my old friends !! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gamers dont cry gamers dont cry gamers dont cry

Wilbur’s fingers twitched, flexing and curling. His hand moved as he silently explored his range of motion. His mind had slowed and stopped and he’d come to a conclusion.

Dream was responsible for this.

He couldn’t take up time being incredulous; He never could, that was one of his main rules of life. He watched the flawless version of himself stare at him with uncertainty as he stretched. 

As Wilbur moved his arms above his head in a deep stretch that he hadn’t felt in ages, four people entered the room. Wilbur glanced over, seeing Technoblade, Philza, a boy that looked like Technoblade, and a man that looked like Philza. 

“The-Thechn- The-” Wilbur managed to get out, trying his best to get the feeling and motion back into his jaw and lips. His tongue fell short of the position to make the T sound, making it come out as a lisp. 

“Wil.”

“Wha- what-th?” The vowel was wide and uncontrolled, but he seemed to be better at the T sound. The question was clear, Wilbur was confused and wanted an explanation. He stared at Techno with an unreadable expression. 

Technoblade stared at Wilbur, taking in the man’s stony face. He sighed.

“Dream’s gone mad. Even madder than you, completely- off the hinges, off of his rocker, out of pocket, all the different ways you can phrase it. He banned me, but he used some scuffed command that sent me here, to this alternate universe.” He paused to gauge Wilbur’s reactions. The man seemed to be following, so Techno continued, “Everyone else that he’s banned has come here as well. We’re trying to find our way back home.”

Wilbur looked down, shifting his weight onto his other foot. Control of his body was coming back slowly but surely. He glanced up again when his brother stepped forward. 

“Wilbur, how do you feel?”

Wilbur knew what Techno meant. 

“I don’t know.”

Techno wanted to know what was still going on inside of Wilbur’s head. To be completely truthful, Wilbur was still recovering from the shock of the event that brought him to this place. He didn’t really have any time to stop the reeling wave of shock that came from every memory from life along with every memory from ghosthood. To truly know what Techno wanted to know, Wilbur would need quite a while by himself to think and reflect. He sighed, slouching a bit. 

“To be honest, to know, I’d need a while to myself to think. I have no idea what to think at this point; I mean, I don’t feel like bursting into hysterics at the moment, but I really don’t know much else.” He watched Techno nod in understanding. 

“Yeah, that makes sense--” Techno turned to Phil-- “So what do we do?”

Philza thought about it for a few seconds before Phil answered for him. 

“We give him that time.” Phil watched as Wilbur examined him with a watchful eye. “I may even be able to help.”

Wilbur watched Phil come forward and extend a hand. 

“I’m Phil. Phil Minecraft.”

Wilbur reciprocated the handshake, taking note of the aura the man had. It was kind and courteous; jovial and caring. Wilbur couldn’t help but have a feeling he should trust the man. 

“If you’re ready right now, we can visit somewhere quiet.”

Wilbur let Phil take him by the hand and lead him away while the others watched with conflicted looks on their faces. 

-

Wilbur sat on a bench in an empty park at 1 in the morning, with Phil next to him. His elbows rested on his thighs as he stared down at the brick path. His mind swirled as he sifted through memories, trying to figure out how he felt. 

His mind swam with anger as he remembered Dream’s manipulation. 

His gut fell as his mind supplied images of Tommy, right on the edge of suicide. 

He almost choked on his own breath as he remembered the separation of Tommy and Tubbo; everything that had gone wrong. 

Phil rested a hand on his back. 

“What is it?”

“I--” Wilbur sat up a bit, bringing his face out from his hands-- “I really hate this. Phil, I regret so much- so much happened while I was gone and because of what I did- Phil, Dream is- he’s- my god, Dream needs to be stopped.”

Phil nodded as he rubbed circles on Wilbur’s back, trying to ease the man’s distress. 

Phil knew by this point that Wilbur wasn’t insane anymore. At least not by their definition. Something in the re-birth had done something to rid Wilbur’s system of the mania. 

“Phil- Phil, my god- what was I- what was I ever thinking!?” Phil felt Wilbur’s heart rate pick up. “I am so--” Wilbur tugged at his hair as he suddenly stood up, his face twisting with emotion-- “ _ stupid! _ ”

Phil reached out gently to grasp Wil’s hand from where he sat. Wil’s head whirled around to face Phil, who gave him a soft look as he patted the bench next to him. Wil’s brow furrowed and he looked up at the sky for a second, but he eventually sighed and sat. 

Phil rubbed a hand on the man’s back again, feeling Wilbur’s tenseness.

“Phil, I- oh my god, Phil, I’m-”

“What is it?” 

Wilbur’s clenched fists gripped the fabric of the knees of his pants as he gritted his teeth. 

“Phil, how could I be so stupid? I can’t beleive I acually did that- I blew it all up, I did so many things wrong- so much happened, even after I died, because of what I did- Phil, I feel so stupid. Every decision I made after the formation of Pogtopia feels like a fever dream of- I don’t even know what! Phil, what was I thinking? It was all such a horrible idea-”

Phil listened as Wilbur spewed on. Eventually, when the man came to a lull in the flow of words, he interrupted softly.

“So you regret it?”

“What the fuck do you think, Phil? Of fucking course I regret it!”

“Well, regret is the first step in redemption.”

-

Philza stood still in the alleyway outside of the apartment. His eyes were fixed on the ground, and his mind swam. 

Wilbur was alive. He was alive. How much did he remember? 

Was he sane? 

Was he okay?

Philza’s mind swam with the turmoil of his emotions. Cognitive dissonance made his skull ache. Wilbur was dangerous, unstable; but at the same time, his son was alive, breathing once again, and Philza wanted nothing more than to wrap his son in an embrace and never let go. His right mind told him that danger was highly possible, but his heart was rejoicing for his son, his Wilbur, coming back to him. 

His hands gripped the fabric of his green robe. His lips were pursed in a thin line as his eyes stayed trained on the ground, and his mind was busy and swimming with thoughts as his hands started to tremble. 

Why? His son had come home to him, but at what cost? He knew what he might have to do again; he knew what cost he might be forced to pay. His eyes screwed shut at the thought, and he rapidly shook his head to dispel it before he went down a rabbit hole of anxiety. 

His mind traveled to Wilbur again. Memories of Wilbur, as a young teen, marveling at his Christmas gift, a guitar; memories of Wilbur, 17, calmly plucking at the strings of the well-loved instrument as he hummed out a tune, interrupted by his own laughter as Techno beat Tommy in a duel again; memories of Wilbur, 8 years old, singing along with the lullaby Philza sung to get the boy to sleep, the small boy’s words trailing off as he slipped into a slumber. 

His mind traveled to Wilbur, 18, calling Philza to tell him excitedly that he had started a nation; memories of Wilbur, 19, calling him in tears telling him about his downfall; memories of Wilbur, 20, standing in the detonation room, eyes holding a foreign madness as he pressed the button, detonating the very nation that Wilbur had once told Phil was his pride and joy; memories of Wilbur, 20, begging for Phil to kill him, stab him, the manic regret and terror at what he’d done easily readable in his eyes, the emotions fading as Phil ran him through, tears streaming down his face.

Philza wiped furiously at his face with his sleeve, blinking hard.

-

Ranboo sat at Bad’s bedside, changing his washcloth once again. He sighed as Bad feverishly batted at the cloth, feeling the towel’s texture with his fingers before letting Ranboo continue with his task. 

“How’s Bad doing?” Skeppy asked from the doorway as he entered with another bucket of cool water, setting it next to Ranboo’s stool. 

“Well, he’s feeling good enough to do things, so that’s good. Earlier, he greeted Sam and Ant when they visited again, and just now he grabbed at the washcloth as I changed it. That’s- that’s good, right?”

“Yes, that’s great. It means he isn’t feeling as weak. Bad!”

Skeppy ran over to the bed, throwing the blue box mask off of his head to greet his friend. 

“How ya feeling, man?”

Bad raised a hand again, this time resting it messily on Skeppy’s face, mumbling something inaudible. Skeppy laughed, taking the hand into his own and grinning as Bad smiled at that. Ranboo smiled as well. It was a good day. 

-

Elsewhere in their dirty underground base, Sam and Ant were struggling. 

“Look, I’m good at this stuff, sure, but I can still struggle.”

“I know that. Sorry, it’s just- this is taking way too long, any longer and we’ll lose another person.”

Sam sighed. 

“I know. Now come on, I think I might have figured out the problem area, it’s-” Sam continued to explain while pointing at a portal frame, poking at a certain area where blue streaks glowed and swirled around. 

“I think that if we have a stronger spark, someone can hop through as it’s open for the split second. From there it’s obvious; report, get a medic, all that, but to do that we have to get the portal to be completely open for at least a second.” Ant watched as Sam tweaked things around, thinking. “We need… we need a totem of undying. I think if we use a totem of undying and sap the magic into the portal, that might be powerful enough.”

“Didn’t Techno have a decent amount of those?”

“He did, but when he gets back, do we really want to be in trouble for stealing?”

“I think he’ll understand.”

-

And so, Ranboo wrapped the cloak closer around himself as he traversed through the snow, silently cursing the fact that the world had decided that it was a good time for a blizzard. 

On the horizon, the small cottage could be spotted. Ranboo sighed with relief at finally having an end destination. He thought to himself about stealing one of Techno’s cloaks once he got there to replace the dish towel he’d been given. 

On that train of thought, he reached the house, sighing in relief as the warmth of the cabin washed over him. 

A fire was going in the fireplace, and Fundy and Ponk sat on makeshift couches. 

He supposed he should have expected it. 

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Fundy responded cautiously, not seeming to trust Ranboo.

“I won’t bother you too much, I’m just here to grab something,” he reasoned, watching the fox relax. “I’m glad you guys are okay. I haven’t seen a lot of people, and looking around… not the best idea.”

Fundy and Ponk nodded in agreement and understanding. 

“How have you guys been?”

“Good, mostly, we manage to avoid the Big D. HBomb’s actually with us too, he’s just out hunting at the moment.”

“Cool,” Ranboo responded absentmindedly, shoveling his way through the chests.

“We looted most of Techno’s good stuff. I’m not sure you’ll find anything here.”

“We need a totem of undying. Sam is making us a hub portal, but he needs the totem’s magic to spark it.”

“A fucking hub portal? Damn, that’s- that’s amazing,” Fundy bubbled, his face lighting up with hope. He stopped sipping the hot cocoa he had, standing up to grab his enderchest from his inventory. He placed it down and dug around in it, bringing out 5 or so totems.

Ranboo gasped, and Fundy nodded. 

“The guy had so many, man, I don’t know how he did it. If this is to get us all the fuck out of here, then take all of them,” Fundy said, shoving them into Ranboo’s accepting arms. 

“Wow, oh- wow! Thank you Fundy, this is amazing!”

“I am putting all of my trust in you, Ranboo, you better not let me down, man.”

“I won’t.”

“Before you go, what do you say to some hot cocoa? We have plenty,” Fundy diverted, changing the subject so he could have a better conversation. 

“That would be amazing.”

-

Ranboo waved back at the small dots on the horizon as he headed out with a new red cloak around his shoulders and an army of totems in his inventory. He smiled to himself. It was finally happening. 

-

Dream beckoned George over with his hand as he leaned over his homework, wracking his brain for some sort of straight thought. George came over and looked over his shoulder at the paper in front of Dream. 

“Wow. You’ve done… nothing.”

Dream groaned and slammed his head into the table, bringing his hand over his head as he continued to moan into the wood of the table. 

“George, I can’t- mmmmm-” Dream curled into the table, clearly frustrated by his struggle. George’s brow furrowed as he leaned over to look at Dream’s ear, as Dream’s face was completely hidden. 

“Why can’t I- George, I- God!” Dream couldn’t get the right words out. He slammed a fist on the table, making another pained noise. 

He was just trying to do his homework. That was it. And yet, his brain decided that it would just not work; it would completely empty his brain of every skill Dream needed to do the homework that was due the next day, because, oh, why let him relieve stress about school so he could focus on the situation, no, let’s just give him another reason to stress and more fucking work to do, because that’s totally the most logical option. /s

Did he just add a tone indicator at the end of a thought monologue? Of course. Of course he did. Fuck this shit. 

It wasn’t even other Dream. The guy was sleeping at the moment, thank the lord, so Dream had a break. 

Unfortunately, his brain wanted to spend that break doing anything but the things he needed to do. 

George poked at his arm, and Dream made a noise again. His brain wouldn’t comprehend anything on the paper. Why? Why this, why now? He ignored George’s pokes and prods as he tried to wrack his mind for anything that would work. He’d already tried to take several breaks, none of which had helped, and he couldn’t think of anything else. 

“Dream, what’s wrong?”

Dream just groaned and lifted his head up a small portion just to bring his forehead down on the table again. 

“Alright, alright, that’s enough of that,” George sighed as he pulled Dream up and then sat down in front of the desk, propping his elbows up to rest on the desk, exactly where Dream had been headbanging. “You need a break. I’ll do your homework, you go do some other shit, whatever you want to do. Obviously, this isn’t getting done anytime soon if you keep trying.”

“George, you don’t have to-”

“Yeah, well I want to. Go,” George shooed, putting his hands in Dream’s face so he couldn’t stare at the paper anymore. “I’ll get this done for you. Go watch Disney+. Go, go, shoo-”

“Ah- George, stop, wait-” Dream protested as George shooed him away until he was in the other room. The door was slammed on him. 

Well, he supposed he couldn’t protest. 

It might distract him from other Dream’s nightmares. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> umm wilbur redemption arc ? in my story ? more likely than you'd think im a sucker for regret and forgiveness lmao
> 
> ummm do yall want another comedy / crack chapter before we finish up ? ii feel like its been a lot of serious / hardcore stuff recently and a lot of us might need to take our minds off of things 
> 
> anyways glattbur supremacy


	12. [Ranboo] im okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a fair TW for self-harm in this chapter 
> 
> o_0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> had a panic attack while reading thsi because i accidentally stumbled across scuffed stuff while i was doing research lmao

Tubbo lounged back in his chair, reading a book that Schlatt had given him. Schlatt was at the stove again, cooking dinner. He had Brittney Spears on the Alexa again, singing along in a scratchy voice. Tubbo laughed as the man’s voice cracked on a high note. 

“Look, kid, you try hitting that note.”

The note came again and Tubbo did just that, flawlessly.

  
“Fuckin’ show-off.”

“Oi, you told me to!” Tubbo laughed. 

Schlatt grumpily continued to cook the burgers on the stove, muttering something about kids these days. 

Suddenly, something on the counter began to buzz. 

It was Tubbo’s old communicator. 

Schlatt picked it up and handed it to Tubbo, who took it carefully. 

[Ranboo] Tubbo is this getting through to you?

[Ranboo] Tubbo I really need to talk to you 

[Ranboo] Tubbo if you’re there, please. 

[Tubbo_] Ranboo I’m here 

[Ranboo] oh thank god i cant believe it worked

[Ranboo] are you okay? where are you? what’s going on with you?

[Tubbo_] im fine, im great actually, im in a new place with new people that are just like us, they’re us but from an alternate universe 

[Tubbo_] i met some new people and its amazing here

[Ranboo] are you absolutely sure

[Tubbo_] as sure as i can possibly be

[Ranboo] are you sure it isn’t some dream or hallucination

[Tubbo_] absolutely

[Tubbo_] there is no way this isnt real

[Tubbo_] are you okay? dream said edream hasny seen you at all so i assume so, but still… 

[Ranboo] im okay

[Ranboo] but im worried about you

[Tubbo_] ask literally anyone else who was banned and they will all tell you the same story

[Ranboo] ill do that

[Tubbo_] im a little miffed that you wont believe me but ok

[Ranboo] wait tubbo i didnt mean it like that 

[Tubbo_] howd you mean it then

[Ranboo] tubbo i was scared you were d e a d 

[Ranboo] i donyt know how im supposed to be sure this is actually you and not dream trying to trick me into believing its you

Tubbo sighed at that. He completely understood. He just hated that it was the case.

[Tubbo_] im the only person you ever told about your early memories? you told me that you remember something briefly about the nether being your home when you were small ?

[Ranboo] ok i did only tell you that

[Tubbo_] so you believe me :D

[Ranboo] yeah i believe you

[Tubbo_] poggers :DDD 

[Ranboo] tubbo youre the most knowledgeable about dreamon stuff and that sort of magic 

[Tubbo_] i am indeed

[Ranboo] whats the stringest power source you know

Tubbo had to think about that very hard. 

[Tubbo_] well theres definitely some strong power sources out there 

[Tubbo_] id say the strongest i know is probably ender magic

[Ranboo] how do we harness that though

[Tubbo_] enderdragon egg 

[Tubbo_] its never going to hatch, its a magical artifact 

[Tubbo_] if you harvest the inside of the egg, you’ll find that the yolk is a blob-like entity that if used as a power source, has many many powerful properties. its best used for portal magic and end-related magic, as well as knowledge-related spells, and if added to potions it will give a much more powerful effect for a much longer time. however, its a bad idea to use it for potions as using it will use it all up rather than letting it be the endless renewable source its supposed to be

[Tubbo_] the whites of the egg are much better for potion use, as if you cut open the egg right, they will never run out. you can scoop out as much as you want without it ever running out. it has the same effect as the yolk would, just as powerful 

[Tubbo_] :)

[Ranboo] how long do you spend reading about this stuff

[Tubbo_] i find it much more nejoyable than watching my home fall apart. 

[Ranboo] understandable

[Ranboo] however, 1 i dont have time to kill the enderdragon, 2 the second i get that achievement, im d e a d

[Tubbo_] ah

[Tubbo_] then i suggest using an enderman’s essence. endermen are very powerful beings and much more magic is stored in them than youd think, i suggest using the blood of an enderman ground with nether brick for an extra burst of teh magic of the nether brick

[Ranboo] thats perfect thank you tubbo

[Tubbo_] no prob :) im so happy youre ok please talk more often the only link we used to have to you is dream 

[Ranboo] will do

-

Ranboo put down his communicator. He knew what had to be done. 

Enderman blood and nether brick. He could do that. 

-

He swung his sword and the last wither skeleton fell. Ranboo harvested the skull in case it would come in handy, and with most of his enemies gone, he breathed out a sigh. He knelt down to pick at the ground beneath him with his pickaxe, unlodging a singular brick and stuffing it into his inventory. The warmth of the nether, familiar and comforting, disappeared as Ranboo tossed his ender pearl quickly into the nether portal only a few meters away. 

The ground underneath him turned to soft grass that tickled his skin, sending a tremor up his body with the combined soft stimulation and chill of the sudden absence of the nether around him. He sat, sighing. The portal was somewhere behind him, swirling. He pulled out a small dagger. 

Next step, enderman blood. 

He’d heard before that nerves were concentrated in the hand. He pulled out a large beaker, setting it on the ground. For a long second, he stared quietly as his hand. His skin was the color of the void, soft and covered in peach fuzz. His mind raced. Carefully, he drew the blade across his skin, watching as purple liquid dripped slowly down his hand and into the beaker. He silently wondered if it would be potent enough. He hoped with all sincerity that it would be. 

He let the hand bleed until it wouldn’t anymore. It required quite a few more of the large beakers. He still hoped it would be enough. With his good hand, he took a test tube out of his bag. With his bad hand, he shakily held it, trying his best to be as steady as possible. It was a big test tube, thankfully, so not as much room for error, but he was still as careful as he could be as he poured the blood into the test tube, finally letting out a shaky sigh of relief when he transferred the full tube, not a drop spilled, into his good hand. He quickly sealed it as best he could, covering the sides of the cork with wax where leaks could sprout. 

He did this several more times, filling up a good number of test tubes with the purple liquid. 

He was feeling weaker and weaker by the second, so, with both ingredients now in hand, he texted Skeppy.

[ _ You whisper to Skeppy: bring me home _ ]

As soon as he sent it, he felt the ground beneath him change to dirt, and he opened his eyes to see Skeppy fretting over him. 

“Where the hell were you, man, you left with no warning, I couldn’t find you at all-” 

Ranboo could barely hear what Skeppy was saying. He felt like he couldn’t even lift his arm, much less formulate a response to Skeppy’s worry. 

He couldn’t keep his torso upright. 

He couldn’t keep his eyes open. 

His hand still hurt. 

He wondered if he 

-

Ant’s brow creased with worry and frustration. Ranboo laid on the bed, still and quiet. His hand was thoroughly bandaged. 

Ant felt sick. He had gotten sick when he saw the contents of Ranboo’s bag. It was enderman blood, a ridiculous amount of it. Ant had no way of telling until the boy woke up why he’d done it. 

Though, he did have a hypothesis. 

The totem hadn’t worked. Not one alone, anyway, but Sam had come to the conclusion that they’d need another power source. Ranboo had probably read somewhere that enderman blood was an energy source. Why he’d felt it necessary to go to these lengths, however, was beyond Ant. 

He was an enderman. Maybe he wasn’t able to hurt another enderman and do that to them? 

Ant paced around, a low purring sound in his chest. He had to calm down, he had to calm down. Panicking wasn’t going to help anything. 

“You’re purring again. Are you anxious?”

“Yes, I’m scared. Why wouldn’t I be; look at him, Sam!”

Sam did look at the boy in the bed, clammy and unsettlingly quiet. His face was sad, and Ant could see some of the fear in his eyes. Sam sighed. 

“I don’t want to use the blood he collected. It would feel entirely wrong. However, it’s our only chance.”

Ant took a deep breath. 

“I know. What I also know is that this has told us clearly that we need to send someone else through the portal. Ranboo needs to heal. Not only that, but I don’t think I trust him not to do something dangerous.”

“Ant?” came a soft, tired voice from behind him. 

Ant quickly turned to see Ranboo, rubbing at his eyes, sitting up slowly and shakily. 

“Oh, Ranboo, no, go back to sleep,” Ant quickly instructed, hurrying over to the bedside. 

“‘M thirsty,” the boy mumbled, and Ant nodded at that and grabbed a glass from the table in the room. He opened the ice box, grabbing milk and filling the glass carefully. He put the glass on the table, then re-sealed the milk and set it back in the icebox. Picking up the glass again, he gave it to Ranboo, who took it with his good hand and quickly drank it, finishing it in no time. Without prompt, he laid back down, turning on his side and falling back to sleep. Ant sighed, taking the glass that the boy had set on the bed beside him, and pulled the quilt back up over Ranboo, tucking him in. 

His communicator buzzed. Velvet was calling again. He tried again to pick up, even though he knew it wouldn’t work. The phone line was one long tone. He took a deep, shaky breath. Sam’s arm came around his shoulder. He allowed himself to shake, allowed the tears to fall. 

  
  


He missed him so much. 

-

Fundy dug around in Technoblade’s old chest, looking for the man’s old clothes. He had to go out into the day’s blizzard, and he didn’t feel like freezing to death, so he pulled out the man’s heavy snow gear. 

It was gear that Fundy had made in the first place, as Fundy was apparently the only tailor on the server. He saw that Technoblade had treated the stuff well, which brought a small smile to his face. At least someone respected his hard work. He would have made things of his own, but all of his supplies were at L’Manburg, and if there was one thing everyone knew these days, it was that L’Manburg was a death wish. So, he settled for the gear that was far too big for him and fastened it on. 

Stepping outside with his bag on his back, he headed in the direction of the nearby village. 

The way was hard, and the wind and snow were really holding him back, but they’d run out of food at home. He needed to trade for more, or he and Ponk and HBomb would starve. 

Holding his lantern out in front of him as the sun sunk lower and lower in the sky, he finally spotted the village. 

As he approached, he saw that all of the villagers were holed up in their houses. He wished he could be doing the same. 

Sadly, his stomach grumbled, reminding him that if he did that, he, Ponk, and HBomb would starve. 

He approached the first house, the one he knew to be the house of the farmers and butchers. He knocked politely, hearing a noise before the door opened and Fundy was invited in. He explained quickly that he needed food, and lots of it. He didn’t want to run out of food again, as it really wasn’t ideal. They’d even run out of potatoes. 

A villager offered him a good amount of steak for 3 sticks. Fundy assumed the villager had gone insane. He wasn’t about to pass up the offer, though, so he handed the sticks over and put the beef into his inventory for storage. Another villager offered a shit ton of bread for 5 sugarcane. 

Fundy silently wondered what Technoblade had done to these poor villagers to give them trades like this. He took all of the villager’s scuffed trades anyways, and once his inventory was full, he went on his way merrily. He munched on the berries one of the children had offered him, savoring the sweet taste. 

He wondered silently where Niki was. 

He pulled his woolen cowl up to cover more of his neck. 

-

At home, Fundy bathed in the warmth of the fireplace. He silently wondered what in the world the date was. He knew that around… maybe three, maybe four months ago had been his birthday. That would make it February or January, he guessed. He couldn’t really tell. 

A hand landed on his head to ruffle his fur, and he let out a low growl. 

“Hands off.”

“Aw, you’re no fun. I even got you something today.”

Fundy was intrigued by that. He turned his head up and back to look, and saw a large collection of wool and pelts, and HBomb held a hand-whittled bone needle in between his fingers. Fundy gasped. 

“I figured you could use these. And one more thing…” HBomb turned to look over at the stairway, where Ponk carried down a spinning wheel. Fundy audibly yelped, jumping up to look at it. It was perfect. 

“I wanted to get you some cotton, but I couldn’t find any wild growing around here. You’ll do fine with wool and angora, right?”

Fundy pounced on HBomb, wrapping him in a hug. 

“You’re amazing.”

HBomb hugged back, taking the opportunity to ruffle the fur on the boy’s head again. Fundy laughed, shaking the hand away. 

He’d grown close with HBomb and Ponk. He thought of them like his new big brothers. 

HBomb laughed as Fundy went straight to observing the pelts and wool that HBomb had collected. 

Fundy gasped as he realized that he could make all three of them a set of snow gear with this. He sorted through the pelts first, seeing that it was a mix of rabbit pelts. He sorted through them, finding an assortment of different types. Then he looked through the wool, seeing a mix of sheep’s wool, angora wool, and ram’s wool. It was all cleaned. He looked at the pouch that came with the gift, opening it to find a wide selection of needles, including a few felting needles and a few crochet and knitting needles. He practically jumped with excitement. 

“This is the best, thank you… so, so much,” he repeated, hugging HBomb again, then Ponk. “You guys are the best.”

-

Fundy spent that night spinning yarn and chatting with his companions.

Ranboo spent that night sleeping and healing.

Ant and Sam spent that night working.

Skeppy and Bad spent that night together, chatting while Bad was well enough to talk.

Niki spent that night at an archery range, silently training.

Quackity spent that night sorting supplies and organizing. 

Purpled and Jack spent that night playing chess in the cave. 

Vikkstar and Lazar spent that night sparring. 

Punz spent that night mining.

Dream spent that night fighting the voice in his head.

George spent that night locked in a tower, tending to his mushroom farm. 

L’Manburg was silent and empty.

Eret’s castle was tired of Dream inside of its walls. 

The Dream SMP could only hold itself together for so long. 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> three chapters left
> 
> i actually cant believe im actually going to finish a fic 
> 
> lol anyways


	13. [StepDream] (:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i got carried away and am now crying over batteries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: looking at my problems.
> 
> my possibility of being on the ace spectrum: hey 
> 
> me: okay okay lets wrap it up for now folks

Callahan glanced down at his phone, seeing that Dream had sent him another tiktok. He sighed, resigning himself to responding again. He was tired of it. However, he knew that Dream was worse for wear recently, and sending Callahan stupid tiktoks and chatting with him seemed to be the man’s coping mechanism. Callahan wasn’t about to turn down helping his friend, so he opened the link in the discord. 

The video was of a person reading memes with an echo voice filter. Callahan sighed. The last one got a chuckle out of him, and he typed back a response. 

[Callahan] t h r e e k

[DreamXD] t h r e e k

[Callahan] your humor is rubbing off on me

[DreamXD] perfect

[DreamXD] teh plan is working

[Callahan] lol

Callahan put the phone down, getting back to his work. He was supposed to be doing coding, his assignment was only half-way done. 

[DreamXD] hey callahan can you do me a favor

Callahan picked up his phone to type a response.

[Callahan] yeah when i finish my schoolwork what do you need?

[DreamXD] pog i just need you to come over 

[Callahan] and help with what

[DreamXD] nothing really i just wanna spend some time with my friends. youre free tonight right ?

[Callahan] yeah 

[DreamXD] cool so youll come

[Callahan] of course.

-

Dream sighed, sitting on his throne while George threw a tantrum in his tower. 

_ That’s an anxiety attack, and you know it. _

Whatever. It didn’t matter. 

_ You say that, but you’re scared that you’ve gone too far. How stupid to think that now? You already took one of his lives in such a fucked-up way that he has a panic attack when he hears your footsteps. _

That wasn’t true.

_ It is and you know it. _

“Shut up, you don’t know anything.”

_ Haven’t I proven time and time again that that’s not the case? _

No. 

[ _ You whisper to GeorgeNotFound: youre being too loud quiet down _ ]

Dream couldn’t actually hear what was going on up in the tower. 

_ It’s guilt. You’re guilty and you know it but you don't want to feel like that so you try and avoid your problems.  _

Dream growled. He hated this. 

_ If you want to avoid all of this, you can sleep. That’s easier, right? Easier than facing all of this guilt and misery.  _

Dream had to admit it sounded nice. 

Dream found himself pacing back and forth in his bedroom. The dark cirles under his heavy eyes made the bed seem all that more enticing. A lullaby floated through his head. 

He practically fell onto the bed, his eyes unable to stay open for any longer. 

-

[StepDream] I FCIJKKJN DI DIT

[Gogy] ???

[StepDream] i got the motherfcker to sleep 

[StepDream] finally 

[StepDream] p e a c e

[StepDream] no violent thoughts or pathetic attempts at being any sort of good person, just s i l e n c e

[Ranboob] thats awesome dream :) 

[StepDream] thank you i think so myslef 

[Schalt] ranboo help me i think i accidentally got other ranboo to bloodlet hismelf

[Ranboob] that is not good

[Schalt] I feel horribe :(((

[Ranboob] what happened? 

[Schalt] i accidently told him that enderman blood was a power source 

[Schalt] i completely forgot he was an enderman

[Gogy] how do you forget that sonmeone is a monster

[Schalt] mob acrually does not equal monster thet’re different 

[Schalt] ranboo’s appearance is not much different from other people

[Schalt] its just a lot of enderman things that put him apart 

[Schalt] like not liking water and not liking eye contact 

[Schalt] and being freaky tall

[Ranboob] i see 

[Schalt] im very worried about himn 

[Cat] im sorry tubbo that must suck

[Schalt] ant is that u

[Cat] yes im the other version of antfrost 

[Schalt] thats funny i was just talking to other antfrost

[Schalt] hes very sad because he misses his boyfriend and i have no idea how to comfort him

[Cat] did he lose velvet ??

[Schalt] he said that since hes trapped he cant go to velvet and the lines of communication have been severed :( nothing can go out

[Schalt] he says velvet tries to call him every night and he can never answer

[Cat] thats sad :(( i feel really bad 

[Schalt] same but i have no idea how to make him feel better 

[Cat] id suggest just being there to listen to him thats all you can really do

[Schalt] bad has also been very very sick and theres no hospital for him :((((( im bery worried 

[Schalt] apparent;y ranboo and skeppy take care of bad while ant and sam work on forming a new hub portal 

[creeper] hub portal ?

[Schalt] very very advanced magic, teh power is usually given to the server by the outside, but since drezm severed that they have to make a new one and teh amount of poweri it requires is a huge obstacle tehry trying to overcome 

[Schalt] teh hub portal is what connects teh hub to all teh servers, and allows people to travel around between them, to fidn homes or services or anything they might need, an escape included

[creeper] they dont have electricity ?

[Scalt] whats electricity again 

[creeper] its the power source in this world, its basically lightning but channeled 

[creeper] the pure understatement of that makes me cringe but its so complex that i really couldn’t explain it without taking a lot longer 

[creeper] as an energy source, anyways. electrons, negative positive charge all that 

[Schalt] is that teh sort of wiring system you guys have

[creeper] thats something with electricity yeah

[Schalt] we have something lie that, called redstone 

[Schalt] its hard tio explain

[Schalt] my sam is super super good at it

[creeper] i know nothing of your magic but what if you tried electricity :? 

[Schalt] i might have to have you explain it to sam but hed definitely be open to that 

[creeper] if i can help in any way then im happy to 

[Schalt] pogg!!! plz come to schlatts house 

[creeper] ill be there in 15 :)

[StepDream] sam ur still coming tio my sleepover tonight right 

[creeper] definitely 

[StepDream] (:

[creeper] that smile is backwards and it is throwing me off 

[StepDream] (((((((:

[creeper] stop that

-

Tubbo opened the door to invite Sam in, smiling as he greeted the older. 

“Sam! It’s great to see you, come on in, other Sam is on the other end of the communicator as we speak.”

Sam blinked, almost having forgotten why he was coming. That was right, he was going to explain to someone in an alternate universe how to harness electricity… He never should have agreed to this. If this alternate version of himself wasn’t on his exact wavelength, he didn’t know if he could even do it. 

“Now, I know you might be worried, but other Sam is a genius, you two are going to get along just fine. He’s going to understand a lot more of what you’re saying than any of us others would, so he’s definitely fit to learn this magic.”

“I don’t know where you got to magic, but it’s definitely not magic.”

“I’m just trying to say that you don’t need to worry about this not working. He’s going to understand.”

Sam opened his mouth to speak again, only to be stopped by Tubbo holding up a finger to silence him and silently handing him the communicator. He stopped mid-action, seeming to get an idea. He pressed a button on the communicator, and a dial tone came from the device, before a familiar voice piped out from it. 

“ _ Tubbo? _ ”

“Ah! Sam! It worked! This will be much easier for you guys! Anyways, I’ll leave you be now, good luck and have fun!”

Sam watched as Tubbo left the room, leaving him alone. 

“ _ Well, I suppose we should get down to it, then. Nice to meet you, my name’s Sam. _ ” 

-

Dream browsed the store aisles, looking for simple things he might need for the night. Some scented candles in his favorite scents, some face masks that looked simple and fun, and a onesie, since he lacked one of his own. He found a green one that was thick and warm, throwing it into the cart. He also grabbed a few of his favorite movies from the rental machine, including Frozen and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. He also picked up Moana for good measure, not sure how long they would be watching movies. 

Checking out and rolling his cart out of the store, he jogged over to his car. 

He put his stuff in the beckseat, running the cart back to the disposal quickly before running back and hopping into the driver’s seat. He started up the car and before he knew it, he was back home. I-80 was fairly empty that day, as empty as an interstate could be. The parking lot of the apartment building, if it could be called that, was very busy, unlike the interstate. It was around dinner time, and the diner would be busy. 

Dream called where he lived an apartment, but he really lived in the spare place upstairs to the family diner that used the building. The family, in an unforgettable act of kindness to Dream, had offered him the place after he’d come to their diner to treat himself and let it slip that he was homeless. Dream paid rent, and they let him stay and fed him. If they also acted as Dream’s adoptive family, that was Dream’s own business. 

“Dream! Welcome home!”

“Hey, Puffy! The boys are coming over later, just so you know. It’s gonna be Sap, George, Sam, Bad, and Callahan.”

“Ah! You boys have fun, I’ll be working. It’s a busy night, as you can see. If you gusy could stay upstairs that would be great.”

“I’ll make sure that happens. We’ll keep to ourselves. See ya!”

“See ya, Dream, have fun!”   


Dream only smiled at Puffy as he disappeared up the stairs. 

-

Back at Schlatt’s place, the man was kicked out of his own kitchen while Sam paced about, the two versions of him deep in conversation. 

“From what I’ve heard, that stuff sounds like straight-up battery liquid. I have a crazy idea that might work but might not- are you opposed to trying to make a battery?”

“ _ Not at all. I don’t care how complicated it may be, if it gets us out of here eventually, it’s worth it. _ ”

“So, calling it battery liquid is a bit misleading, I’d say it’s much more like a power source in itself, but I think it might work- however, I have no idea what we can substitute for the different materials- I don’t know if you guys have copper or zinc, and I doubt you do; on top of that, how do you take the electrons the zinc is giving off and channel them? It’s complicated, but I think if we do a bit of experimenting, it might work. If we find magical counterparts to the scientific elements, we may be able to recreate it. Are you free tomorrow?”

“ _ It’s not like I can go anywhere. I’m free every day. _ ”

“Perfect. I’ll come back tomorrow. If you can, I want you to gather all of the metals and elements you have in your world, along with all of the magical stuff you own. I think we can figure this out.”

“ _ Count on it. I’ll see you tomorrow. _ ”

“See ya.”   
  


Sam pressed the button that hung up the call and turned to Tubbo with a look on his face that Tubbo recognized as pure scientific glee. 

“Tubbo, this is so cool- I’m so excited, I can’t wait to figure out how it works; even just through a phone, this is going to be an amazing set of experiments.”

“I’m just glad you can help, Big S.”

“I’ll be back early tomorrow morning to grab the communicator, if you’re okay with me taking it. I’ll take it to the lab to recreate what we’re doing, I’m trying to test my theory about the whole alternate universe thing, I think parallel might be a better word for what kind of universe we are in relation to theirs, and the ways of power might be directly paralleled to ours. It’s so interesting, Tubbo--” Sam handed back the communicator as he ranted-- “I can’t wait- oh, this is so interesting.”

Tubbo wasn’t able to get a word in edgewise as Sam ranted excitedly; the man was out the door before he could even tell him he’d left his coat. 

-

Sam drove down the road, realizing the time as he absentmindedly glanced at the clock. He was expected at Dream’s house in 5 minutes. 

He stayed in quiet thought as he drove, mind swirling with possibilities. 

He had barely gotten any time to do so before he was driving into the parking lot of the diner. The empty fields of Iowa stretched out behind the building, it being in the very edge of the city. The only thing in that direction was the landing strips of the tiny airport of Iowa City. Sam had always wondered what planes actually took off and landed there, since they weren't passenger ones.    


He got distracted from that line of thought by the strong smell of ketchup and soda. His head turned back to the Diner, a 1950’s themed one that Dream lived at. Sam was still confused at the man saying he lived in an apartment. He shook his head, starting to walk towards the diner. 

As he opened the door, the smells hit him like a truck, and he smiled at it. It was nice, he had to admit, he somewhat envied Dream for his living conditions. Sam himself lived in a country house about a half-mile from town. He had copped the place at an extremely cheap price a year or two ago from an extremely nice old man who’d explained to him that he needed someone who would look after the place for him; for some reason, he trusted that Sam was perfect for the job, and thus, Sam had a place to stay. It was an extremely short ride to school, and the diner was on the same road, HWY 1, so if he ever wanted a place to eat, it was as easy as that. Barely a five-minute drive. 

“Sam! Great to see you again, kid, how’s it going?”

“Hey, Puffy! I’m doing great today, thank you. I assume Dream is waiting for me?”   
  


“Yup! You boys have fun up there!”   
  


“We will, thank you.”   
  


Puffy smiles and waves at him as he goes to the back, greeting the chefs as he navigates through the kitchen to get to the stairs in the back. 

The trapdoor opened before he could even get to the top of the steps, and a grinning Dream greeted him, holding out a hand for Sam to grab and get the rest of the way up the steep staircase. 

“You look cheerier than normal, Sam, what’s up?”

“Tomorrow is a big day, and today was amazing as well. Just science stuff, things having to do with the alt universe and stuff.”

“Let me guess: you got completely hooked on the science of the alternate universe’s magic and now you can’t stop thinking about it.”

“Yeah, that’s just about right.”   
  


“Cool. You brought your onesie, right?”

“How could I forget it?”

-

And so, Sap, George, Dream, Bad, Sam, and Callahan sat in Dream’s room in onesies, lounging around on the pillow-covered floor as they watched Elsa’s ice castle get invaded with skincare products soaking their faces. The room smelled strongly of citrus as candles burned. 

“Yeah, get ‘is ass, Elsa!” Sap cheered as the character held Hans by the neck on an ice spike. 

“Language!” Bad peeped up from the other side of the room, no malice in his light voice. 

Callahan’s reindeer onesie hood fell over his eyes again, causing him to let it pool around his shoulders as he leaned back on the bedside, grabbing another handful of popcorn from the bag he and Bad shared. 

Dream was happy. He was very happy, with George’s head in his lap, his friends surrounding him, and his favorite movie on the TV. His hands carded through George’s hair, and he sighed happily. This was what he lived for, really. These kinds of moments with his friends, where he could forget his worries and simply be. 

George smiled up at him, giving him a knowing look. Dream smiled softly, ruffling his hair a bit more. 

He was gonna be fine. He knew it.

The third movie ended and it was late; late-late. They were all already half-asleep, so it was easy once the TV was turned off to turn into a mess of tangled limbs, Sapnap serving as Bad’s pillow and Callahan letting Sam lean on his shoulder as he felt his eyes close, still in his sitting position. Dream and George were spooning on the bed, Dream the little spoon and George clinging onto the larger man like a backpack, wrapping his arms and legs around like a koala and snoring quietly. 

-

Sam was already gone when Dream woke up, which was expected. He smiled, thinking about Sam’s excited face as the man ran off to do his science experiments. A note was left on the counter downstairs, where the rest of the group was chatting, thanking Puffy as the woman made them breakfast. 

_ i really enjoyed last night, i hope you did too, it was a lot of fun :) ill see you next time we meet <3 _

_ -Sam _

Dream chuckled as Sapnap choked on his pancakes, putting the note down. 

-

Sam was grinning from ear to ear as he hopped out of his car at Schlatt’s house, jogging up to the front door. Tubbo greeted him, chuckling when he saw the excitement that showed through on Sam’s face. Tubbo held out the communicator, quickly showing him how to call Sam, then laughing as the man grabbed it, waving as he ran backward, tripping over the laces of his converse, untied as they were in his rush that morning to get out the door. Tubbo laughed as the man quickly righted himself, facing the right way this time. 

Sam saw the house grow smaller in the distance as he drove off, already dialing up his counterpart. The dial tone ended and a voice came from the other end of the line. 

“ _ Hey. _ ”

-

In the chemistry lab that Sam had been lucky enough to use that day, Sam paced around grabbing the supplies he needed as he talked. 

“What all do you have in terms of elements again?”

“ _ Well, I have iron, gold, diamond, netherite, redstone, lapis, and just in case, I have nether stars from Technoblade’s stash, I ground them last night. I wanted to try melting them, but considering the fact that they’re used as beacons and I don’t want to blind myself, I refrained from doing that. _ ”

“Okay, okay, understandable; what magical items did you bring?”

“ _ Blaze powder, enderman blood, totems of undying, blaze rods (I actually have a theory that they might be conductive), a wither skull, ghast tears, phantom membrane, silverfish shells, magma cream, and… I think I also grabbed prismarine crystals, just in case. _ ”

“Then let’s start with the construction of the battery first, I think the best option right now might be the primitive one. Grab a few washcloths if you have them,” Sam instructed as he grabbed a gauze. He continued, “Now, I think we should try gold in place of copper, since it’s the next best conductor. Grab a small plate of it--” Sam grabbed his copper plate-- “and then, I think we might use iron as the zinc. Grab a small plate of that as well.”

Sam assembled the ingredients in front of him, with his solution already next to him and ready.

“ _ Alright, I have everything. What next? _ ”

“The enderman blood. Soak the washcloth in that, then put the iron on the bottom, the cloth on top of that, and then the gold.”

“ _ Fuck, that’s- that shocked me. Purple lightning is coming off of it- _ ”

“Write that down, write that down- blaze rods! Grab a blaze rod and touch one to either side, and touch both sides to the portal--” Sam wrote down in his own notebook what he’d been told, his heart jumping.

-

On SMP Sam’s side of things, he was currently writing everything he was seeing down in his notebook, quickly doing as he was told and grabbing two blaze rods. 

He ignored the searing pain of holding the things and brought the experiment down to touch the portal, audibly gasping as the portal sparked to life. It didn’t die down, and he couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh, incredulous. It had worked almost immediately, and with makeshift materials. He didn't believe it. 

Callahan tumbled out of the portal, into the Dream SMP once again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if there are any scientists in chat, i sincerely apologize, i bet i butchered this so bad- 
> 
> i am crying over batteries
> 
> why
> 
> why
> 
> anyways i am making a side-shots thing so check that out, its next in the series this work is in :)
> 
> two more chapters :)))))))))


	14. Just Know, Dream, That You Were Once Loved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i finally wrote it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for some graphic stuff in this chapter

Momentary weightlessness. 

A warmth.

Cold.

A crack.

Dream woke up on cold marble. 

An aura surrounded him, one that pulsed with rage, sorrow, grief, and weariness. A powerful aura, one of an entity more powerful than Dream knew. 

He sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes as he got to his feet, looking around. It was white, all white; white halls, white ceilings, white eyes, white lights; white, white, white. 

_ Dream. _

The voice was powerful, it scared Dream. It instilled guilt into the core of his soul, and he heard it in his head as he heard it echoing through the white halls. He spun around, and around again, searching for the source. 

_ You have made a grave mistake. You have made many; the first of those declaring war on your friends.  _

Dream opened his mouth to shout that they weren’t his friends, those were his enemies, but his voice went into nothing. He felt his vocal cords vibrate, he could feel his voice in his chest, but it was as if he were in space; his voice disappeared as if there was no air for the waves to travel. Even as he thought that, the voice still echoed through the hallways. 

_ They were your friends. It was a server of friendship; of comradery. Yet, you declared war on the man who you’d spent whole days with before, humming together as he helped you get over the one who’d broken your heart. You declared war on the boy you saw as your younger brother, who could do no wrong in your eyes, and the boy who was so bright, his spirit like a raging inferno with no end. The bright son of Wilbur, the brotherly Eret, the sweet, sweet Niki; all of whom you knew, you befriended, you spent your days with.  _

That meant nothing, he thought, they went against him, they betrayed him-

_ They only asked for an independent peace, Dream, and your ego didn’t let that happen.  _

Dream wanted to scream, yell, defend himself, but nothing came out, nothing echoed through the halls as the powerful voice had. 

_ The first war pained me more than I thought possible. I was young, and the trauma and violence and bloodshed was nothing I had ever seen before. I wept for my dearest L’Manburg, her wound was deep and I felt it in my soil, like a knife through the heart. I wept long and hard, and my tears wet the land in a storm so long that you and your friends had to abandon your crops of the season, for I had drowned them.  _

Dream felt the presence and felt her sorrow, he felt the grief emanate through the castle, so great that he could barely comprehend it. He wracked his mind to figure out what was going on. 

_ When L'Manburg was rebuilt, I believed it to be the last of the bloodshed. I was so happy, and despite the conflicts, I rejoiced. Oh, how wrong I was. When JSchlatt stepped foot here, I felt his presence like a weed. I knew that he would bring sorrow, but I could do nothing. My Wilbur and Tommy were cast out of their land, and my sweet Tubbo was ensnared in Schlatt’s web of manipulation. My sweet L’Manburg was cast aside for a new nation, Manburg, and I felt the sorrow of my Niki, my Fundy, my sweet ones, I felt their sorrow and their loss, their grief, and I grieved with them, for Wilbur and Tommy were gone.  _

My? What was all of this about, why had Dream been called here? Where was this place? He knew these stories.

_ In Pogtopia, I held them in my heart. I gave them ores, I gave them warmth as best I could. When Techno appeared, I embraced him. I gave him successful crops in the dark; I protected him from the falling debris of the cave. I watched my sweet Wilbur, the sweet man who sang songs to me in the spring and who cared for everyone he met; my brave, charismatic Wilbur, who had dreams and followed them, fought for them; I watched him fall slowly into the depths of insanity, I watched him fall from the light, and all I wanted to do was embrace him. I watched my sweet Tubbo suffer in Schlatt’s administration, I watched Schlatt beat him and chastise him, and I watched Tubbo’s sweet spirit dull. I watched my brave Tommy, scared out of his mind in the caves, taking everything he was to deal with his world falling apart around him. I watched his blazing spirit shrink. It was pain, nothing less than pure pain, watching my people suffer. My dearest children, the ones who walk my land, suffering and fighting. Oh, how my sorrow filled the lands, and my heart ached for you, and for Pogtopia, and for Quackity, and for Schlatt, as corrupt as he was. He was terrible, and misled, and all I could think was if only he’d been better, if only he hadn’t let the power corrupt him, then none of this would have happened, and I could embrace him as well. I saw his sorrow, for I see all, and I saw his regret mixed with the certainty that he’d done the right thing. I saw him drinking, and I felt his anger, and I saw what he did with it. Oh, how I wept every day, for everything was pain and sorrow. And you, Dream. _

**_What were you doing?_ **

Dream felt terror flow through his veins as gravity seemed to grow and an oppressive feeling pushed down on his shoulders. 

**_You were loving it. You were fueled by the pain of my children, you basked in the chaos. It was then I knew, Dream, that I had lost you._ **

Dream felt guilt, so much guilt that he hated himself for feeling. His ego was fighting it, but he felt so strongly how much he’d fucked up. The cognitive dissonance made him want to puke. His head ached as if he were deep underwater, the pressure compressing him as if he were buried alive under meters of earth. 

_ Philza joined then, and I watched my dearest Wilbur as he lost the last of his mind, and I watched the poor man forced to kill his son, and I felt the pain in my heart so horribly that day, the explosion was like a blow to the lungs, I could barely process that my dearest L’Manburg was gone. I saw JSchlatt that day, I saw him kill himself in that van, drunk out of his mind, lost and afraid. I saw so many people witness the death of my Wilbur, and I felt their sorrow, as I had their fear.  _

**_I saw you, Dream, watching, and cheering as L’Manburg was torn to shreds in the blast. I saw you._ **

Dream felt her presence so strongly, looming over him. He knew that he’d fucked up. 

**_And then, Dream, after they’d rebuilt, you… you felt you hadn’t hurt me enough, and you caused the exile. Do you know, Dream, how much piercing pain I felt as I watched what you did to Tommy? You took his flame, his blazing spirit, and you put it out. I watched as it happened, as his eyes dulled and his heart sank and hardened, and I wept for my boy, my sweet Tommy. I could only watch as you chained him to you, as he stared into the lava pits, and I wept that he would ache for such a thing._ **

**_Then, you sent Techno away, and you started to get worse and worse as you sent them all away, one by one. You hurt Karl before you sent him. You hurt George, as well, pulling him into your grasp. You hurt all of them, and you sent them away._ **

**_That was what sent me over the edge, Dream. I no longer have any hope for you. I weep that you have lost yourself, and I know that you must go._ **

**_J U S T K N O W, D R E A M, T H A T Y O U W E R E O N C E L O V E D._ **

Dream felt tears flowing down his face, he felt his throat closing, He felt like he was miles underwater, the echoes of the blinding hallways were muffled and slowed, slower than the voice in his head. He felt her sorrow and her rage, and he felt the pain like a sword through his

-

Dream woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. His chest was tight and his eyes were filled with tears. He was heavy, and still incredibly tired. 

It was just a dream. 

_ Go back to sleep. It was just a dream. _

The regular voice, the familiar voice. 

Maybe he would.

His aching body said yes.

-

He awoke in the white castle again, much to his dread. 

This time, he was greeted by a beautiful slender woman. She was tall, much taller than Dream, but slender. She had beautiful flowing white hair, and no face, just a white-skinned flat surface. Her soft skin, flawless like a baby’s, was covered in peach fuzz, and she felt soft, incredibly soft. Her presence was soft, so much different from the other’s. 

_ Hello, Dream. I am the Inbetween.  _

“Hello.”

He could talk.

_ Follow me, Dream. I have much to show you.  _

The woman started gliding away, down a hallway, and Dream felt himself following. He tried to stop, but his body moved of it’s own volition. 

_ First, I will show you the First War. _

“What?”

But before Dream could say much else, he was on a bridge. 

**_He was TommyInnit. He was looking down, and fear, so much paralyzing fear was running through his mind and heart, and he felt as if we was going to throw up. Was this really how Tommy had felt? Dream remembered Tommy being boisterous, so confident, but the fear that Tommy was feeling rivaled that that Dream had felt when he was about to die, back in his childhood. And as Dream felt the terror, he watched Tommy look up, drawing his bow. He heard Wilbur’s voice counting, and inside Tommy’s head, he heard a phrase repeating over and over, so fast Dream could barely understand it._ **

**_This is where I die._ **

**_“10.”_ **

**_Dream watched as Tommy whipped around and he saw himself, and he saw the duel play out, and he felt Tommy’s paralyzing terror, and he felt Tommy use everything he had, despite being terrified at a level that would have easily left Dream unable to move. He watched, in morbid awe, as the arrow pierced Tommy’s heart, he felt the horrible pain in his chest._ **

And he was back in the white castle. The lady had a hand on his shoulder. 

_ The duel. A pivotal event in the war.  _

Dream was too focused on the fear. The fear that he had felt running through Tommy’s veins; it was incredible. And yet, Tommy kept fighting, he gave everything he was despite the fact that he knew he might die. 

What the fuck was wrong with that kid?

_ Do you remember Eret? _

Wait, no-

**_He was Wilbur, this time. He was being led to the Final Control Room. He felt Wilbur’s fear, this time, and heard Wilbur’s thoughts running through his head. He heard them faintly, not nearly as clearly as Tommy’s had been. There were many things happening at once, in Wilbur’s mind, it was much less one-track than Tommy’s had been._ **

**_He saw Eret, and he heard her speech. He felt Wilbur’s gut sinking and his throat close up as the speech was made, and the words blurred together. Dream was terrified, as Wilbur was, and then, the explosion. Wilbur could barely breathe, and the shock wave knocked him back and out of his wits. Dream felt the betrayal, the tears pricking at Wilbur’s eyes, and he felt Eret’s boot slamming into Wilbur’s ribcage-_ **

Dream was back at the palace in a cold sweat, panting heavily.

_ The Final Control Room, the holder of disaster and tragedy.  _

Dream felt time swirl around as 

**_He was Tommy in Pogtopia as Wilbur screamed down at him. He felt tears pricking at Tommy’s eyes, and he felt Tommy’s fear at that, the shame at the show of emotions. He felt Tommy’s despair, he heard clearly Tommy’s mind voice asking why it had to happen, why the man that had once lovingly cared for him as a child had become this, and Dream felt Tommy’s utter despair._ **

**_He watched as Tommy stepped backward once, and then turned tail and ran, down the ravine and out of sight and audio distance, tears starting to flow._ **

**_Tommy was crying._ **

**_Dream was shocked. He felt Tommy’s whole body start to shake with sobs as the tears, once let loose, quickly devolved into a breakdown in a strip mine, punching the walls and feeling the blood on his knuckles, wailing and sobbing, screaming, emotions running so wild that Dream was as dazed as Tommy._ **

**_Wilbur losing his mind._ **

**_Manburg._ **

**_Tubbo showing up with bruises._ **

**_Techno being so busy collecting materials for the cause that when Tommy saw him sparingly, he was so horribly tired and worse for wear that he could do nothing but collapse in a bed and sleep for 20 hours, wake up, and get back to grinding; Tommy seeing how horribly the man treated himself._ **

**_Dream heard it all run through Tommy’s head on repeat._ **

**_And then he was Tubbo. The first thing he registered was pain, searing pain on his arm, and then pain on his side. Yelling, screaming, shame, pain, tears, a blur, so blurry, the overwhelming stench of alcohol, whisky; the sound of glass shattering, shards spreading across the floor, so much pain, confusion, the urge to run, to freeze, to become incomprehensible, to disappear, to implode, to explode, to lash out, to hurt, to avenge, to_ **

**_He was Niki, in her bakery, crying over papers scattered across the floor, desperately needing to make ends meet, to pay the next bill, to survive as she was tagretted so harshly by the system, by Schlatt, about to lose her home, about to lose everything she ever had. She clasped desperately at her chest, trying to control her breath, staring hopelessly at the papers, the numbers that she could never meet, the little money she had left; hopelessness making her gut sink as she melted into the corner of her bakery, desperately wishing that it had never happened, that Wilbur and Tommy were still here, that everything was whole again, that_ **

**_He was Wilbur, feeling a horrible wrenching fear in his stomach as Dream declared war, knowing it would only end badly, but knowing that he had to fight anyway, fight for the freedom of his friends. He felt the deep resignation to a life of fighting, a hopeless agreement to the terms that meant freedom._ **

**_He was Wilbur again, in a cave, trying so desperately to pull himself back together, sobbing, trying to find what was right, what was happening in his mind, what had happened to him, why he’d treated his brother so poorly, why he was this, why his mind swirled and tore itself apart from the inside, why he felt he could implode at any moment,_ **

**_He was Fundy, watching in frozen horror from an outside view as Schlatt brought the bottle down on Tubbo’s arm, screaming about how useless he was, why he couldn’t do better, why everything was happening, it was his fault, and Fundy choked on the bile in his throat as he watched, hopeless to help, only knowing that things would worsen,_ **

**_He was Sapnap, in his room, puzzling over how it had come to this, how it had to be this, how Dream had changed, how everything was falling apart at the seams,_ **

**_He was Philza, in the button room, watching his son lose the last of himself, lose everything as he slammed his fist onto the button; he watched everything fall, and he watched the realization in his sons eyes, and he felt the guttural scream so close to releasing itself from his throat as his son begged for death, begged to be run through with the sword, to be destroyed, to be killed, and he wanted to release it, oh how he wanted to sob as he listened to the noise of the blade running through his son’s torso, but he held himself together by some miracle, and_ **

**_He was Tommy watching the home he grew up in, the home he’d built with his own two hands, the land he’d fought for through so much; watching the houses he’d spent his days in being blasted apart, the debris almost hitting him, he watched with tears rolling freely down his cheeks, he watched his father, inside the hill with his brother, he watched the yelling match, he watched the sword run through his brother, he watched Philza, the angel of death, the ever strong, never faltering father drop to his knees and let out a sob and a scream that shook the lands, told all around of the pain, the agony of Wilbur’s fate,_ **

**_He was Tommy, being taken away, being dragged from his home, the utter betrayal in his chest unbearable, crying for all to see for the second time ever, tears rolling down his cheeks as he sobbed, cried out desperately for a change, for mercy, for something to stop his fate, for something, only met by the cold, unwavering stare of his friend, his sole friend for the whole of his childhood. He yelled, he screamed, he cried, it was a mistake, it was a mistake,_ **

**_He was Tommy on the boat, bled dry of tears as Dream rowed them away, far away,_ **

**_He was Tommy in Logstedshire, desperately trying to hold himself together, to find the strength that he used to have,_ **

**_He was Tommy above the lava lakes, looking down longingly at the eminent death that it would bring, wanting only an escape. No one was left who was there for him, he was useless, he was hated, and he would be better off down there in the lava, burning in agony than he would be in L’Manburg, because_ **

**_He was Techno, rage overtaking his whole being as he stormed off to face Dream for what he’d done to his brother, seeing red, seeing in his mind his once brave and strong and bright brother who could take on the world huddled into a corner and crying, broken and seeking death. He was with Dream, fighting and winning, until Dream_ **

**_He was Skeppy, watching in horror as people disappeared one by one, he was Skeppy, stood by the marred hub portal, heart sinking in dread as he realized what it meant for him and Bad,_ **

**_He was Ranboo, marring his hand in some hopes to get out of this place,_ **

**_He was George, Dream on top of him, foot grinding into his stomach as fear and pain swirled throughout his mind,_ **

-

He was waking up in his bed in a cold sweat, once again, tears on his face as he choked on air, the blanket long tossed to the floor. He was cold, he was clammy, and he was gross. 

He was never sleeping again. 

He blearily got up, his head spinning.

He made his way to the bathroom, and he stumbled over to the toilet just in time to lean over it and let up the little that he had left in his stomach. He sighed, groaned, and flushed it down before stumbling to the sink so he could pick up the glass and fill it, chugging all of it as fast as his tiredness would allow, then repeated that several times until the taste of acid was vacant from his mouth. He used the toilet and then he left the bathroom.

His head ached and he felt boiling hot at the same time as freezing cold, and he wanted nothing more than to lay down, but like hell was he going to make that mistake again. 

He changed wearily into a tank top and the first pair of shorts he could grab. He decided to kill time and distract himself with a trip to the kitchen, through the not-white halls of the castle. George was nowhere to be found, but he didn’t care. At this point, he wanted George gone. He wanted to be alone, where he could forget… that dream. 

It shook him to his very core, and he shuddered as he remembered the pure emotions he’d felt. He shook his head, attempting to forget it. It was so clear, so real, but it was a dream, a nightmare. 

He opened the large wooden doors to the kitchen and rustled through the cabinets. Eventually, he found an old container of dried berries and started shoveling them into his mouth. They satiated his hunger somewhat, but he mostly focused on the taste of the tart berries, trying to ground himself. Eventually, he decided to get up and walk around again. 

He found himself outside in the dewy grass, laying down. He stared up at the stars. 

He wondered how this is what he’d become. 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo how we feelin ;)

**Author's Note:**

> if you want a second chapter comment or something idk lol chatfics are just too much fun


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